8 Signs Your Favorite Coworker Has Become Your IRL Best Friend

Working with people you like can make the workday go by faster, but working with your best friends can make the workday hardly feel like work at all...most days. If you are one of the lucky few who gets to call your workmates your best buds, you’ll totally relate to this:

1. You share a secret language.

You’re so in tune with one another’s body language that you can practically conduct full-on meetings across the room without even uttering a single syllable. You can decipher the difference between every smirk and smile, no matter how discreet. Whether you’re at the office or hanging out at happy hour, you know one another so well that the slightest flick of the eyebrow or change in intonation speaks volumes.

2. Your email chains keep you going.

Coming into work to find a full inbox usually spells chaos...unless you work with your besties. Sending random gifs, Monday motivation, specially selected articles, and of course many, many cat memes to your BFFs happens as regularly as sending a weekly status report to your boss—just don’t mix the two up!

3. You have a safe space to vent.

We all know that office gossip can be toxic, but when you work with your best friends, at the end of a hard day you have someone to talk to who will definitely understand your pain. Instead of doling out generic positive platitudes, best friend coworkers can really empathize and give you advice tailored to your exact situation.

4. You spend more time together than with romantic partners.

You frequently hit double-digit streaks of seeing one another without a second thought. If you’re together during business hours, after work, weekends, lunch breaks, and the occasional vacation, congratulations—it’s a work BFF!

5. You’re a pro at carrying multiple coffees.

It’s easier to recall the coffee orders of your four closest coworkers than it is to recall the last four digits of your Social. You have an unspoken agreement that a caffeine run for one is a caffeine run for all, and navigating with arms full of hot liquids has become second nature. 

6. Lunch breaks are never boring.

A lot of people have to wait until weekend brunch to gather with their main crew, but your squad convenes five times a week minimum. Lunch breaks are almost like a throwback to high school days, except instead of worrying about whether you’re cool enough, you’re surrounded by people who make you feel rad all day long.

7. Team projects get you pumped.

Being on the same wavelength has its professional perks. If you’ve ever worked on a team with coworkers you don’t know well, getting started can be a source of anxiety, and the outcome can be hit or miss. When you have people who mesh with and know are on your side, that fear is alleviated, everyone can make the most out of their own strengths, and meetings are actually painless.

8. Their sick days are the WORST.

You never realized how long a workday is until they aren’t there. Did time always move so slowly? Nothing makes you appreciate your work besties more than when they aren’t around, but when they get better, it feels like the weekend...even on a Monday.