Sometimes work may make you feel like the mythological Atlas, holding up your entire workplace on your shoulders.
Unfortunately, people aren’t often heroes worthy of mythos, nor should they be, and as humans they are prone to getting stressed, burnt out, or worse.
In today’s story, a Reddit user came online to vent about his job wanting way too much from him as he was quitting and asking for advice on what to do - with amazing results.
More info: Reddit
FIY: the abbreviation “SOP” means “standard operating procedure.” You’re welcome!
It's easy to just give up on your job when you decide that you're done with it and are going to quit
Image credits: Mackenzie Kosut (not the actual photo)
A poster came to the career guidance subreddit when a huge amount of work was dropped on him after putting in his 2-week notice
Image credits: ticklishguy_
Image credits: OnInnovation (not the actual photo)
Management asked him to create SOP documents for the next hire, but this frustrated him because making them was way too much work
Image credits: ticklishguy_
Image credits: Nick Vandierendonck (not the actual photo)
Besides that, the workplace is hugely toxic overall, throwing the poster under the bus and reprimanding him
Image credits: ticklishguy_
With the advice of the community the poster got the needed encouragement to just do as much work as he can during his notice period and worry less
In this story, the original poster (OP), a guy by the moniker of ticklishguy_, put in his two-week notice at work and about 4 days after the fact was ordered to create documents detailing various processes at his work - SOPs.
From his story, it seems that the managers wanted to squeeze as much as possible out of OP, as there were no SOPs when the poster began work about 3 months ago, which caused him far too much stress than was worth.
Overall, OP mentions that the workplace is extremely toxic and stressful, with him being thrown under the bus and reprimanded for things that were not his fault.
In the comments OP also mentioned that he was paranoid about the workplace giving him a bad reference which may damage his reputation. People managed to address his concerns by saying that simply getting references from coworkers (who he mentioned becoming close with) would much better, rather than some toxic manager.
Another commenter said that the fact that OP had two managers was already a bad sign, as having 2 supervisors “breeds chaos and dysfunction. It’s usually accompanied with poor communication, a lack of accountability, and infighting.” So yeah, there’s that.
But besides that, the whole situation is quite wholesome with OP getting a huge amount of support in the comments. The community said that it’s quite standard to put in minimum effort after your two weeks' notice, because the worst thing that can happen to you is getting fired, which means getting to leave early.
Many comments also said that a job that someone only spent 3 months in and is causing them physical distress already should not be stressed over at all and can be left out of his resume entirely.
Image credits: Kevin Walter (not the actual photo)
If you’re actually unfamiliar with the concept of notices, let me fill you in real quick. It’s a formal notice politely informing your management that you will be quitting in some time (a standard is two weeks or 10 business days) and giving them time to plan who will take over your work or finding a new hire.
According to The Balance, the nature of your work may shift somewhat and turn into a period of transition, with meetings with management and coworkers, reviewing your latest projects and daily tasks so they can be handed off to your future replacement.
The Balance also suggests that it may be tempting, but you shouldn’t slack off during your notice, as remaining efficient will help you secure a good recommendation in the future from colleagues and management.
And although you can find a lot of people saying that you are like a “dead man walking” post-notice, the general consensus seems to say that taking the high road and just putting in those two weeks is better than doing the opposite.
If you simply carry on with your work and do what is asked of you, you’ll leave a good impression on your bosses and stay on good terms with your colleagues - who knows who you may be working with in the future.
The phenomenon of just giving up after giving your notice may be related to the concept of quiet quitting, which became a thing not so long ago.
According to The New Yorker, quiet quitting isn’t quitting outright but rather giving up on the idea of going above and beyond for your job. According to this viral TikTok, quiet quitting isn’t necessarily a bad thing and may be quite liberating, as you approach the realization that your worth is not tied to your job - life is far more rewarding when you look beyond your daily responsibilities.
The original Reddit post collected 2.4k upvotes with a 95% upvote ratio. The career guidance subreddit encouraged OP majorly, providing him advice on what to do and how to get out of the situation unscathed. In turn, OP thanked everyone for their support, saying that his messages are open for everyone going through similar things. Smiles all around.
The community came to support the poster, sharing their own stories and how they got out of those situation
Image credits: Nicolás Boullosa (not the actual photo)
