Anyone else find socializing at work incredibly tedious?

Oh yeah, especially when the conversation becomes one of measuring macho-ness by comparing how much they drank that weekend.

No, I love talking to people makes the day go faster

If you're a guy in the UK and you're not massively into football, good luck.

I have almost nothing in common with my co-workers, so most idle conversations stay very short. I think everyone likes them that way.

Headphones-on should be a universal sign of "leave me alone unless it's work-related."

7-8 years older than you is not that much older than you.

most of the people in my office are like 1-3 decades older than me (intern @ oil and gas comany for supply chain) ... yep, they are nice people, but man are they boring. Their lives consist of office work ONLY, and many of them are married/kids and just going with the flow. It's a lot easier to connect with people my age, because it's easier to talk about music, share social media information (OLD PEOPLE DON'T USE TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM!) and it's just easy to connect and stay connected with younger guys/gals.

It's not bad. I used to be more anti social but I found being friendly and talkative can go a long way in business.

Socializing is easy and natural to me. What's hard is dedicating 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week to a job.

People are easy, jobs are hard.

Heromanz said:

No, I love talking to people makes the day go faster

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this^

OP - its all in who you are as a person

Some people like it others not

I just have no interest in it. I pop in my headphones, turn on Spotify, and concentrate on getting my work/studying for certs done.

Meh, I like it. Makes the day go quicker and is fun. Except the one time I worked with some Pokémon nerds. Dudes in their 20s and they'd go on all day everyday about it.

I do have my days where I just wanna be left alone tho.

Heromanz said:

No, I love talking to people makes the day go faster

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This..

As a teacher I hate PTAs and staff meetings.

No. I actually have to force myself back to do my work. I could socialize all day (and sometimes do)

I prefer to just get my work done but since I'm an introvert and I don't go out of my way to get in people's faces and talk to them, I sarcastically get called "Chatty Cathy" and people like to make cracks like "Hey, quit talking so much!". That shit pisses me off to no end. I'm nowhere near anti social, I even love public speaking. But come on...people need to quit getting on my case just because I spend more time at work actually working rather than flapping my gums out in the halls.

It's tedious, but once you mature a bit, you'll see the benefit of cultivating these sorts of relationships (and the negatives of being perceived as aloof and antisocial) in a professional environment, especially with those more senior than you.

Depends on who I'm talking to.

I don't do chit-chat in office hours, but a drink after office helps bonding with my colleagues.
I found that drinking helps me connect with them without having anything in common.

Bony Manifesto said:

It's tedious, but once you mature a bit, you'll see the benefit of cultivating these sorts of relationships (and the negatives of being perceived as aloof and antisocial) in a professional environment, especially with those more senior than you.

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On the contrary - the majority of people you meet in your life will be meaningless, especially in a work environment. Networking can be helpful depending on your industry, but there is a difference between passive small-talk and actual engaging conversation.

I work with my best friend so socialising at work is easy. I'd rather be laughing and joking with the other people than be stressed of the job I do so I try to talk to others as much as possible .

Don't try to force yourself to do it. If someone lives where I have some family, been there, or have been thinking of going there, it's really easy to talk about it.

FreeMufasa said:

Meh, I like it. Makes the day go quicker and is fun. Except the one time I worked with some Pokémon nerds. Dudes in their 20s and they'd go on all day everyday about it.

I do have my days where I just wanna be left alone tho.

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That sounds great lol

No.

I'm interested in the people in my environment and their lives.

FreeMufasa said:

Meh, I like it. Makes the day go quicker and is fun. Except the one time I worked with some Pokémon nerds. Dudes in their 20s and they'd go on all day everyday about it.

I do have my days where I just wanna be left alone tho.

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Okay, yeah. Addendum. I'm interested in most of the people in my environment and their lives.

Relating to others is hard

Hate it

I'm socially awkward and find small talk incredibly difficult, so whilst I'll usually go to smaller departmental meals out where I know people fairly well, I usually make excuses not to attend the bigger work parties, eg at Xmas.

You take out work from that sentence and I still answer yes.

No I like it.

Ive been a fulltime work from home employee for the last 18 months or so. On the few occasions ive had to go back to the home office, i haven't been able to sit at my desk for more than an hour at a time without wanting to quit from having to engage in face to face conversations with people on small talk and really anything else.

I try and socialize as much as possible tbh

It's the favourite part of my job. My coworkers are an amazing, diverse group that gives me so many new ideas and great laughs every week.

I socialize at work because it builds rapport especially if it's people who you interact with everyday

Bony Manifesto said:

It's tedious, but once you mature a bit, you'll see the benefit of cultivating these sorts of relationships (and the negatives of being perceived as aloof and antisocial) in a professional environment, especially with those more senior than you.

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Yeah, this. It shouldn't have to work this way, but it's often more important to be well-liked than to be the person doing the most/best work (don't be shitty at your job obviously).

Only if you have similar interests with me will I actually enjoy talking to you, like old/modern RPGs, and older white men love those, so I don't particularly have trouble at work at least.

I felt the same way for most of my time at work after finishing up grad school. I was much younger than anyone else in the office I worked in and had little in common with others there. Over time I got to know some of them better, and even gained a mentor and a couple of people I could talk to at a deeper level.

I still only have genuine conversations with a few colleagues, and small talk is still very much annoying.

About the aloof thing, it worked in my favor because of a few fiery people I worked with. Their personalities made them stand out negatively a few times, while I got praise for being steady and drama-free and getting my work done.

I only like talking to people I speak to on a daily basis and we have a bond. I ignore people who barely speak to me unless they need something.

No, I like my coworkers. We mostly talk about food.

Playco Armboy said:

. But for real, I much prefer sticking my headphones in and ignoring everyone around me, do my own work on time, and head home.

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Then you pout and wonder why you're not moving up the way you want and why no one knows your name or what you do.

Learn to socialize folks. No one likes that stuck up person that doesn't want to talk to anyone. No one considers this person when it comes promotion time.

Socializing is such a huge part of my job so I have to like it, which I do. But I know everyone of my employees really well so that makes it much more fun I guess.

I'm really quiet at the current job...my group is only me and one other person, and all the other groups (like professional groups - not talking about social groups) have like 10+ people in them, and they talk more basically cause they have more moment to moment interactions, which will lead to small talk.

I only get involved in their processes at very specific times, so while I talk to everyone at some point, I can go weeks / months before I talk to them again, so basically I'm the guy that everyone likes, but no one ever talks to.

I also HATE talking randomly over cubical walls - so I won't even throw a 'hey neighbor - did ya see the game etc' out ever - just cause I don't know they are there / are they busy / do they even care..so I just don't.

Thing is, I've been very social in past lives / keeper of the office candy jar where everyone would take some and talk to me / commisioner of fantasy football / golf with coworkers weekly etc - but now, can almost get through a day without talking to people - maybe I do - sometimes all I say is 'goodnight' to the one admin I walk by on my way out -

I also hate this job (not the people - its just a BLAH job and no one really cares here because its government - been private industry worker for 15 years - now govt for almost 7) - so I am just unimpressed by the people here (not all - some are sharp as hell - but if I went back to private industry with the keys to build a new department - I'd probably steal no one away from here)

So yea..just BLAH I suppose (plus Im now older / got kids / always tired / not gonna go out after work with people anymore / so F it lol)

Heromanz said:

No, I love talking to people makes the day go faster

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This for me too

I am lucky though. Many of my co workers are gamers so we talk constantly about games. Most of them are >30 and are playing since the 80s so we have a lot to talk about.

With the others I just talk casually about their hobbys or soccer or anything really...

Corporate office conversations suck. Retail or service? It's what keeps you sane.

No, it helps pass time and removes some of the monotony of the daily 9 to 5 grind.

I keep work convo light and positive and never shit talk or gossip. I really enjoy talking to coworkers during day. It really helps situations where you are teamed up or are handling a task together that you already have a comroderie.

only when people want to talk about what their pets did or how their favorite sports-ball team is doing.