TikTok offers Gen Z advice on how to survive a 9-to-5 job

• Young people are growing tired of their 9-to-5 jobs calling it "soul-crushing" and "depressing."
• Tiktokers have come to their rescue and provided corporate survival guides to "stay sane."

In October, a college graduate posted a TikTok video about her first 9-to-5 job in which she's crying and says she's "so stressed out" because she doesn't have time to do anything outside of work.

Brielle, the user behind the video that went viral and has received over 3.5 million views, complained that after commuting to work and coming home she had little time or energy left to cook dinner, work out, or enjoy her personal life.

Social media users like Brielle have been rallying against the 9-to-5 in the past year, calling it "soul-crushing," and "depressing," and say they feel like they're wasting their youth by being a "corporate drone," Business Insider recently reported.

Several TikTokers have acknowledged the pains of the 9-to-5 routine and are posting their own corporate survival guides.

Eat lunch away from your desk

User @ellsatthedisco recently shared a video about "3 things you can do to help u survive a 9-5," in which she says that "there's no such thing as work-life balance," for people who work 40 or more hours a week.

Still, she offered some tips on how to stay "as sane as possible" during the week, which included deleting Microsoft Teams, Slack, and emails from your personal phone.

"You don't realize the damage you're doing to yourself when you're checking all of those as if they're social media apps," she explained. "Before you know it your whole identity will be work."

She added: "I don't know about you but I'm not a CEO and I don't have shares in my company so I have no business to be updated constantly."

Other advice included setting boundaries by working the contracted hours only to ensure you have free time after work.

She also suggests taking lunch breaks away from your desk so you can recharge to continue working in the afternoon.

Tim Whitehead, who goes by the handle @thecareergodfather on TikTok, posted a video earlier this year with advice on how workers of all ages should handle the 9-to-5.

He suggested that professionals need to think carefully about whether they are the right fit for a certain job.

"All corporate jobs are not bad but you need to make sure you're a good fit in a corporate environment. If you're not, you're gonna hate your existence," he said.

He advised viewers that moving up the corporate ladder to more senior positions will offer more flexibility. As a reminder, he added: "Never forget to take care of your mental and emotional health. Don't let these jobs drive you nuts because they will if you let it happen."

Take screen breaks every hour

Jessica Ollerenshaw provided her "top tips to stay sane" in a 9-to-5 job earlier this year on TikTok. Ollerenshaw was just over one month into her first job when she posted the video.

Like @ellsatthedisco, Ollerenshaw recommends going for a walk, stretching your legs, and chatting to colleagues during breaks to feel good, especially if you're sitting at a desk all day.

"I like to set myself little rewards," she added. "Whenever I've done about two hours or three hours of work, I'll go get a nice caramel latte or have a biscuit, just some little rewards to get you through the day."

She also recommends taking screen breaks every 45 minutes to an hour.

The general discussion around corporate life on social media suggests some people are becoming disenchanted with it.

Suzy Welch, an NYU business professor, previously told BI that young people are dissatisfied with their jobs because it feels like their work lacks meaning or purpose, and they're simultaneously postponing the joy and fulfilment that comes from their personal lives.

Welch explained: "People of every age are saying: 'Look, if there's one thing the pandemic taught me and dire world news teaches me is that life is short and fleeting and I want to make the most of it and I don't want to wait to feel good about myself or good about what I'm doing in the world.'"