When I was in college, there was this girl named Stephanie who was a class above me. I saw Stephanie less like a fellow uni student, and more like this mythical idol whom I placed on a towering pedestal. 

Stephanie was like an untouchable celebrity. She was cool, beautiful, hilarious, wacky, and more self-assured than any woman I’ve ever met. During a time in my life when I felt wildly self-conscious, insecure, and unsure of myself, I looked up to this woman who seemed like she had the whole wide world in the palm of her hand.

That is… until she didn’t. Upon graduating from university, Steph took on a job as a talent agent in Hollywood. Pretty sweet gig, right? Not according to Stephanie! In fact, this chick from college whom I once worshipped for being so unshakable was now shaken to the core. How did I know this bit of information? Social media, of course. 

Stephanie would spend a hefty amount of time and energy logging into Instagram to declare to the world how much she despised her seemingly swanky new job. It seemed like my entire Instagram-feed was now crowded with posts from my former-idol about how utterly stressful and sucky her career was.

Oversharing About Your Career Struggles Can Backfire

On the one hand, I found it endearing that my college heroine wasn’t this mythical goddess who was completely unflappable. She was human. On the flip side, the more she shared how miserable she was at her new job, the more I felt her slipping from the pedestal I’d placed her on.

As her posts swarmed my feed revealing an endless saga about the stress and work hangups, I began to see her as just another person. Flappable. As a result, all the respect and idol-worship I had for her during uni seemed to perish before my eyes.

Now I know what you’re thinking – give the girl a freakin’ break! She’s just venting to her friends and family about her experiences in an allegedly toxic work environment.

Sure everyone has the right to vent about how they’re feeling when they’re under a significant amount of stress… It doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Sure, I’m allowed to quadruple-text my crush about how much I like them and can’t, for the life of me, stop thinking about them… but should I? Is that my best strategy when it comes to gaining their respect and mutual affection? Reader, I think not. 

When it comes to your career goals, the same thing applies. If you want to be perceived a certain way by peers and colleagues you have to be strategic. If you constantly vent about how stressed work has you, you might get eye rolls behind your back. That’s probably not the respect you’re hoping for.

According to a new study released by University of Georgia, stress bragging will make you seem less credible – and less likable – to your peers. But what is stress bragging exactly?

Are You Oversharing About Your Career Struggles?

Known as stress bragging, this phenomenon is when you go on and on about how busy you are with your workload, with the hopes of showcasing to your peers how committed you are to your job. For instance, saying things like “I worked overtime for six hours last night,” or “I think I only got half an hour of sleep because I was working on that brief.” This sort of behavior is merely an effort to gain brownie points. It’s done to prove in this dog-eat-dog job market that you’re willing to shackle yourself to your office desk in order to advance in your career and get ahead.

Sadly, this method has the ability to backfire – especially when it comes to how your co-workers view you.

Stress Bragging May Make You Seem Less Competent

Although your goal is to try and prove how busy, strategic, and inherent to the team you are, and show off how much work you’re accomplishing, too much of this can have a boomerang effect. Yes, you’re getting a ton of stuff done, but whining about this – loudly – on social media can unintentionally make you seem like you’re not cut out for the role. 

Ideally, you’d want to act as professionally as possible by doing the tasks your job requires of you without your constant pushback. The less you complain, the more it appears that you’re up to the requirements for the role. By constantly stressing, you give off the impression that your workload is eating you up inside rather than something that comes naturally to you.

You Might Cause A Burnout Effect For Your Co-Workers

Besides, the more you let it rip about how much your workload sucks, the more your co-workers will concur. Complaining is contagious! Once you start criticizing the little ways your boss micromanages the entire team, these negative comments can often seep into the minds of your colleagues, so they start to believe it too. 

Even if it is true that your supervisor’s a tad too strict about a certain policy, going overboard complaining about the issue makes it more problematic than it has to be. 

Strike A Healthy Balance With Work-Related Issues

The fact of the matter is, work can be insanely stressful. It’s only human to want to vent about it, especially when you’re stuck in a toxic work environment. Your best bet is to take a step back and take an inventory of how much you’re stress bragging. 

If it’s every once in a while, you’re perfectly fine. But if it seems like the only words coming out of your mouth are complaints? It might be time to reign it back a bit… especially when it comes to your friends and colleagues. If there are real issues at hand in the office that are eating you away at you, don’t be afraid to reach out to the professionals. That’s precisely what HR is for.