Work
Small steps that worked for real people, on work.
The sky over Work · 72 small steps
- Attach the file before you write the email
- Break the To field on purpose
- Buy yourself a minute after send
- Draft it where it can’t send
- Let the workload say no for you
- Listen your way in
- Match your loyalty to theirs
- Not knowing yet is the job
- Proofread past the spellcheck
- Tell the new one they're doing fine
- The address goes in last
- The donut gambit
It sounds heavy. We’re here.
In the US
In the UK · Samaritans
Worried about someone else? What helps →
In the US · National Domestic Violence Hotline
Call 1-800-799-7233Text START to 88788
In the UK · National Domestic Abuse Helpline (Refuge)
For men in the UK · Men’s Advice Line Lines open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm
Outside those hours: Samaritans will listen any time, on 116 123.
Need somewhere safe to sleep tonight? What to do, step by step →
More lines: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
In Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland · your nation’s own 24-hour line
Scotland: 0800 027 1234Wales: 0808 80 10 800Northern Ireland (18+): 0808 802 1414
In the US · Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
Call 1-800-422-4453Text GO to 1-800-422-4453
In the UK · Childline
An adult worried about a child? Childhelp takes those calls too. In the UK: NSPCC, 0808 800 5000, 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Under 18 and told to leave home, or not safe there? What to do, step by step →
More: Childline’s online chat
Can’t talk out loud? Childline’s 1-2-1 chat → You make a free account first (no email needed).
It was not your fault.
In the US · RAINN — National Sexual Assault Hotline
Call 1-800-656-4673Text HOPE to 64673
In England and Wales · Rape Crisis (16+)
18 or under in the UK? Childline, any time: 0800 1111.
More lines: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
In Scotland · Rape Crisis Scotland (13+) Lines open every day, 5pm to midnight
Call 08088 01 03 02Text 07537 410 027
Outside those hours: Samaritans will listen any time, on 116 123.
In Wales or Northern Ireland · 24-hour lines that cover sexual violence
Followed, watched or harassed? What to do, step by step →
In the US · VictimConnect Resource Center
Call 1-855-484-2846Text 1-855-484-2846
In the UK · National Stalking Helpline (Suzy Lamplugh Trust) Lines open Monday and Wednesday, 9:30am to 8pm. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9:30am to 4pm
Outside those hours: Samaritans will listen any time, on 116 123.
Someone sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images of you?
StopNCII.org (18+): help stop them being shared online →
In the UK · Revenge Porn Helpline (18+) Lines open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, excluding bank holidays
Outside those hours: Samaritans will listen any time, on 116 123.
Under 18 in the images? In the UK, Childline can help you get them removed (Report Remove): 0800 1111. In the US, NCMEC can point you to Take It Down, any time: 1-800-843-5678.
Forced or tricked into work or sex?
In the US · National Human Trafficking Hotline
Call 1-888-373-7888Text 233733
In the UK · Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline (Unseen) Lines open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday (reduced hours until further notice)
Outside those hours: Samaritans will listen any time, on 116 123.
An older person being hurt, neglected or exploited?
In the UK · Hourglass (older people and abuse)
Call 0808 808 8141Free text 078 6005 2906
If any of this is about you: call 988 in the US or Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK. In danger: 911 / 999. Someone to talk to →
Afraid of someone at home? Domestic abuse lines → Worried someone checks this device? Browse more privately →
About a child? Childline 0800 1111 in the UK, Childhelp 1-800-422-4453 in the US.
Sexual assault: RAINN 1-800-656-4673 in the US, Rape Crisis 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales.
In danger now: 911 in the US, 999 in the UK.
A teen or young adult in the US? Love Is Respect, any time: 1-866-331-9474, or text LOVEIS to 22522.
18 or under in the UK? Childline, any time: 0800 1111.
If you’re over 18: domestic abuse lines →
Worried someone checks this device? How to browse more privately →
Someone to talk to, and more →
Thinking of ending your life, or in danger? 988 (US) · Samaritans 116 123 (UK) · 911 / 999
Or browse another area:
- workA new job should never ask you to send moneyA new job that sends you a payment and asks you to pass some of it on is a scam. It can be taken back weeks later, and you owe the bank.
- workAsk what a first-year apprentice earns before you switch to a tradeHigh trade pay can be the fully trained rate. Apprentices earn less at first, and the work is hard on the body. Check the first-year pay.
- workLook at what the hospital hires without a degreeSome hospital jobs, like cleaning and patient transport, need no degree. Nursing assistant jobs typically need training and a state exam.
All 72 tips on work
- A job does not sell you the kit
- A new job should never ask you to send money
- A raise below inflation is a quiet pay cut
- Ask “How so?” when the job says it is a family
- Ask for the pay range before you name a number
- Ask the internet for people, not pages
- Ask what a first-year apprentice earns before you switch to a trade
- Ask whether your salary is exempt from overtime
- Attach the file before you write the email
- Be ready to leave the day you give notice
- Break the To field on purpose
- Bring HR a company problem
- Buy yourself a minute after send
- Call the temp agency this week
- Calling in sick takes one sentence
- Change your socks halfway through the shift
- Check the fraud feeling with someone who sees your work
- Check the payslip against your own hours
- Cite it the second you use it
- Draft it where it can’t send
- Get clear first, then report it
- Go to office hours with nothing wrong
- Hold Ctrl, and the keyboard thinks in words
- Hum before you speak
- Is it too late for my GED?
- Is this deck for the room or for the inbox?
- It is the standing still that hurts
- Keep a running list of what you did at work
- Keep your private life off the work computer
- Learn the spreadsheet you already open
- Leave the room when the shouting starts
- Let the workload say no for you
- Lift your feet off the floor
- Listen your way in
- Look at what the hospital hires without a degree
- Look for the next job while you still like this one
- Match your loyalty to theirs
- Not knowing yet is the job
- One gift card, from one person, quietly
- Only the contract is the promise
- Proofread past the spellcheck
- Put both jobs on one yearly sheet
- Put something between work and the sofa
- Say it before they find it
- Say the letter, then a word
- Say where the understanding came from
- Say you’re angry at the company, not at them
- Say your answers out loud before the interview
- Spell it out the first time
- Start the file and line up the exit
- Take the free lectures, skip the certificate
- Take the just out, then decide
- Take the sip, then answer
- Take the water and use the sip
- Take the work complaint to someone outside work
- Tell people you are looking for work
- Tell the new one they're doing fine
- The address goes in last
- The donut gambit
- The listing is their wish list
- The one who warns you about everyone
- The print button is a PDF editor
- The tab you just lost has an undo button
- Three doors to liking your work
- Try ‘him’ before you write ‘whom’
- Volunteer to go first
- What a former employer is actually allowed to say
- When “people skills” means “play the game”
- Write it down while they show you
- Write it hot, send it cold
- You are allowed to ask what others earn
- Your resume's filename is read first
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For the things that take longer than a day — a few small steps, in the order that helped real people.
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