What do your work colleagues not know about your life?

[cluelesscher]

Mine know I like my fitness/gym time but don't know just how much of a huge part of my life it is.

They don't know I was bullied out of my previous position.

They don't know that I have been home studying to further my career.

That my husband earns much much less than me and I am the main breadwinner. And that my son has disabilities. I wish I could be more open but I feel I will be judged and pitied

I have a strict policy of 'head down, mouth shut' when at work, as far as I can get away with that without being uncollegial. I long ago learned this is by far the safest policy.

I have been regularly staying up to midnight doing unpaid over time all through lockdown. I stopped 2 weeks ago and am worried about what my boss will say about it as they'll notice my productivity decreasing massively. I work in an industry where staff well being is held in high regard and were meant to model self care. I even support people struggling with their work.

That I'm really struggling with working from home.

Great idea for a thread OP!
I'm a bit of an open book, for my sins, so two of my team I am close with and tell them things, but the rest it is quite surface stuff. They don't know:

That we're really struggling financially

That I had an abortion two years ago

That I was bullied out of my last role

That I find most of them boring and hard work

My colleagues have no idea I’ve been married before. They have no idea that I have a second job answering psychic text messages and this is how DH and I paid for our wedding (he does it too) 😂😂

That after a terrible year, starting a new job and having them like me for me( not because they have too or are my family) made me feel so special, that's lame I know

That I had family members murdered when I was a child. The few people I have told as an adult were too morbidly fascinated and I don’t like to talk about it.
I’m quite open and friendly on the surface but don’t open up much until I know people for years and years and years.

@Mummadeeze

I am a terrible over sharer so my colleagues know most things about me. I often wish I could take back some things I have told them though.

Yes same, I’m like Hagrid “I should not have said that”, and then whenever I start a new job I always mean to keep more to myself and then I open my gob and it starts again

Oh but they absolutely don’t know that before lockdown I started meeting up with a guy from tinder to have sex in my car never done such a thing before!

They don’t know how much of a shit exh was.

@angelcakebananabrain I’m exactly the same!

I'm (now) in a very senior leadership role, highly paid etc. Regarded a slightly posh. Last year I decided to be a bit wild and had my clit hood pierced. My colleagues would never imagine me having something like that done.

After seeing how DH reacted to me having it done, would love to have my nipples done but worried they would show through!

That I'm a bit of a leftie politically.

@Sunflowergirl1 did it hurt?! Or do they numb the area first?

@EZA15. They used some sort of spray to numb it but i still felt it, but was pretty instant. just had to replace the piecing bar with the final piercing.
i was probably more worried about the embarrassment having it done but he was professional and said he did loads every week
I love it as my naughty little secret and cant imagine some of my also posh colleagues knowing..although who knows they might have done. DH loves it

Thanks @Sunflowergirl1

@Emeraldshamrock sorry, only just saw your reply! It does make things tricky, for example my boss assumes I have no commitments at home so sees no reason why I would mind working a couple of hours later etc (especially since WFH during COVID) and while we don't have kids yet its still not nice finishing late regularly and having to have a late dinner with DP.

I also don't really like the thought of my colleagues or boss assuming that I just sit at home alone with my dog every night doing nothing and moping about (nothing wrong with that though - I bloody love it sometimes when my DP works a weekend and I get to do exactly that!). It just irks me that they probably think I live a relatively solemn life and maybe take pity on me for not being in a relationship yet (the 10 years I've been with DP already feels like 20!)

@EmbarrassedUser

My colleagues have no idea I’ve been married before. They have no idea that I have a second job answering psychic text messages and this is how DH and I paid for our wedding (he does it too) 😂😂

Hi @EmbarrassedUser do you mind if I PM you?x

Quite a lot, as I am selective about what I tell them. They probably think I am a fairly open book and would be surprised.

They know I’m married with two kids, but that’s it.

I don’t socialise with work colleagues. I used to, in my 20s. Loved it, made great friends with the others my age, and had some raucous nights out. Met DH at work, and got together after many a work night out.

These days, I’d rather get home, and hang out with my own friends, so it’s all very separate.

Most of them don't know how much debt I'm in (I'm in the senior management team, they'd be surprised I think).

Otherwise our workplace really is a very open book. Abortions, eating disorders, miscarriages, cheating partners, mental illness, alcoholism... all discussed very openly. I really love my coworkers; we're a small business and most of us have worked together for years now, and we're all very close (i.e. some of the team spend family holidays together, others live together, others have been friends since school). When something bad happens, we are there for one another.

I feel very lucky. They're a good group of people.

That I've had bulimia for 15 year. I hope they don't know anyway.