Go ahead, cry at your desk this year, write Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy. As friends and co-authors of No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work (out Feb. 5), they argue that the office would be a much more enjoyable place if we weren’t so discouraged from feeling our feelings while on the clock.
Fosslien and Duffy’s book balances heartfelt advice with fun features like Bingo for Meetings and illustrations that poke fun at our common foibles, like overthinking emails and doing work during a vacation day. To start bringing your emotions to work, they recommend adding “microactions” to your daily routine: instead of mindlessly passing your co-worker in the hallway, give her a hello, or if you’re feeling adventurous, even say her name out loud. Allow empathy into conversations with co-workers rather than sticking to rote small talk, and you may find yourself with more co-workers to commiserate with — which makes the start of a new work year a little less daunting.
