Quick Quiz: Are You Guilty of TMI at Work?
(All material on Your
Office Coach®
is copyrighted to Marie G. McIntyre. All rights reserved.)
You’ve probably worked with people who just can’t stop talking about
themselves. They rattle on and on about topics in which you have
absolutely no interest. When you see them coming, your first thought is
“how can I escape?”. These annoying chatterboxes inspired someone to
coin the term “TMI”, short for “too much information”.
But
before you judge these talkative colleagues too harshly, be sure that
your own slate is clean. You may be bored to tears with the details of
their vicious divorce, but do you ever return the favor by endlessly
bragging on your brilliant children or recounting every shot in your
last round of golf? To check your own TMI tendencies, review the list
below.
|
What
do you talk about at work? |
How
frequently? |
|
Your
spouse’s annoying habits and peculiarities |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Arguments
with your family members |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Twists and
turns in your nasty divorce |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
The
activities of your brilliant and adorable children |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
The
aggravating behavior of your in-laws |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Intimate
details of romantic encounters |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your dog,
cat, hamster, iguana, or any other pet |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Crazy
drunken escapades |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Trips and
vacations (with or without pictures) |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your
swinging single social life |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your lack of
a social life |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Buying,
building, selling, or decorating your house |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Problems
with your boyfriend(s) or girlfriend(s) |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Details of
surgical procedures |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Illnesses
and medications |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Disturbances
with bodily functions (we’ll avoid listing the specifics) |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Pregnancy
problems and delivery dramas |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your
astounding athletic prowess |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Views on
political candidates and issues |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your
anxieties, addictions, phobias, or emotional problems |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Your
brilliant investment strategies |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
|
Religious
beliefs, convictions, and opinions |
Often |
Sometimes |
Never |
It’s
fine to share information about your life with coworkers. After all,
that’s how we get to know people and build relationships. But the more
times you checked “often”, the greater the risk of people falling asleep
in your cubicle or ducking into the restroom when they see you coming.
Even
if you have a conversational partner who’s equally interested in your
favorite topic, you are probably wasting huge chunks of work time
swapping stories. So save the TMI binges for your friends and family –
or at least confine them to breaks and lunch. |
