The Watercooler still exists – the forum for idle chitchat that really serves no purpose except to highlight the ups and downs of company politics.

We might not physically gather around it anymore and instead do so virtually in Facebook, Twitter, SLACK and other tools that allow us to spend the day messaging on such topics.

It’s hard to resist that swirling vortex of negative energy and sometimes we don’t even know we have succumbed to it until it is too late.

But there is a way out.

The next time you feel it happening, record how long you spent in the vortex, 30 minutes, an hour, maybe more?

And ask yourself whether you want to continue investing in that part of your career or whether you want to focus your energies elsewhere.

The Watercooler will never go away, but what we choose to discuss by it, in it and around it can.

Want more? Check out my book Code Your Way Up – available as an eBook or Paperback on Amazon (CAN and US).  I’m also the co-host of the Remotely Prepared podcast.

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