Whether you work in an office or from home, some co-worker habits are irritating! We’ve all been there, where there’s a handful of colleagues who always seem to be up to something maddening. Some of the most common workplace icks include laziness, making awkward noises and eating loudly. We looked at TikTok reactions and Reddit upvotes to rank these from the most to least annoying.
| Ranking | Ick/Habit |
| 1 | Laziness |
| 2 | Awkward Noises |
| 3 | Background noise |
| 4 | Unnecessary Calls |
| 5 | Eating Loudly |
| 6 | Nail Biting |
| 7 | Smelly Food |
| 8 | Oversharing |
| 9 | Bitching/Gossiping |
| 10 | Coughing or sneezing |
| 11 | Dirty dishes |
| 12 | Leg bouncing |
| 13 | Eating on camera |
Top office icks
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular icks people find annoying at work!
Worst offender: Laziness
We all have bad days when we don’t feel like working as hard or as fast as usual. But continually avoiding tasks or slacking off can irritate co-workers who are trying their best to get things done. Laziness can often lead to more work for other people, so it’s important that everyone pitches in and does their part. Whether it’s leaving dishes in the office sink or purposefully not meeting deadlines, having lazy employees can slow down productivity and is pretty annoying for everyone else. No wonder it came up top as the most annoying workplace ick, making up almost 30% of post reactions we studied.
Noisy Office Icks: Awkward Noises and Background Noises
Do you have a co-worker who hums, whistles, and makes strange noises while they work? This can distract others in the office and make it difficult to focus. Although some people might not consciously realize they’re making strange noises, it’s still annoying. TikTok users certainly don’t have a tolerance for it.
Food icks: Loud eaters and smelly food
Everyone needs food breaks throughout their day but no one wants to hear their co-worker crunching away on chips or slurping soup all day long! Both TikTok and Reddit users are not fans of this distracting ick. No one likes being disturbed by loud chewing or wants to be forced to try to keep their own lunch down while smelling that broccoli and fish chowder you brought from home!
Top Online Icks
Whether you work from home or have a hybrid set up, it’s impossible to hide from annoying habits and icks, they are everywhere!
Tiktokers hate noise
Nothing ruins productivity quite like a noisy atmosphere and Tiktok users are the most likely to be offended by awkward or background noises including noisy eating – added together these three icks surpass the top single ick of laziness with almost 20,000 reactions on Tiktok!
Whether in the office or working remotely, loud background noise can quickly derail an entire team from getting anything done, especially during meetings or team projects. Ever been on a Microsoft Teams or Zoom call and your colleague’s forgotten to hit mute? It’s safe to say a noisy call makes it hard to stay focused.
Reddit users hate unnecessary calls
No one likes being interrupted while they’re trying to work by someone making unnecessary phone calls or putting pointless meetings in the diary and it’s the number 1 ick if you’re a Reddit user, with over 2000 upvotes.
Not only are these calls taking away valuable time they make it impossible to concentrate and get into a flow. How many times have you finally found the motivation to finish off a task you’ve been putting off and then bam you get 3 meeting invites and a random phone call?
Eating on camera
Just scraping like a metal fork on a ceramic plate into our top 13, eating on camera has become the new norm, whether you’re having a lunchtime meeting or snacking on a team call. We’ve all done it before unless, of course, you’re a part of the small percentage of people who can’t stand it when people eat on camera! With fewer than 1% of social media reactions, we think eating on camera is probably fine, as long as you’ve turned your microphone off.
Annoying habits can make work more difficult than necessary! From laziness to loud eating, these are all disruptive icks. All of us have experienced an annoying co-worker before, it’s inevitable! Remember, communication is key; talk openly with your teammates about any issues you are having so that everyone remains respectful and productive, whilst still having fun.
Looking for an ick-free working environment? Look no further, Easy Offices makes it easier for you to find a great place to work.
Methodology
Collected data from this Reddit post and this Reddit post and logged the number of upvotes and percentages to create rankings. Viewed popular TikToks on the same office icks as Reddit and summed up the reactions.