Spreadsheets, emails, meetings, more spreadsheets, more emails, more meetings… The workday can get dull very quickly. Sure, there’s the occasional coffee break, but even those eventually blend into the routine unless something surprising breaks up the monotony.
And sometimes, all it takes is a forgotten relic collecting dust in a drawer or a secret note your predecessor left in the server room. To show that the highlight of your week can hide in the simplest of places, we put together a list of moments when employees discovered mildly interesting stuff at work they didn’t know existed!
#1 Found This Little Guy At Work
Wasn’t safe where I found him, so I let him go outside of the job.
Image source: Boyinthecorn
#2 My Coworker And I Found A Praying Mantis At Work And Took A Picture With It. It Turned Out More Like A Couple’s Engagement Photo
Image source: preston_f
Research shows that meaningfulness is more important to us than any other aspect of our jobs — including pay and rewards, opportunities for promotion, and working conditions.
When we feel our work is meaningful, we’re more engaged, committed, and satisfied. When we don’t, we’re more willing to quit, and this is especially true for younger employees.
So how do you make your work more meaningful on the days you don’t find something interesting?
#3 Look What I Found At Work Tomorrow
Image source: kttice
#4 I Found My Doppelganger At Work
Image source: GlasgowComa
#5 A Beautiful Giant Silkworm Moth That I Found At Work
Image source: The_Goop2526
Part of the solution involves leaders at the top of their organizations. There are several ways they can create conditions that foster more meaningfulness at work. The other part, however, involves us — the individuals. And ultimately, what makes work meaningful is unique to you and your values.
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the University of Bath’s School of Management tested ideas suggesting that being in a state of awareness may be linked to stronger meaning-making at work. They hypothesized that if people were more aware of themselves and their work environments, they would also be more likely to address work-related challenges in creative ways. (The researchers referred to this mindset as “flexible thinking.”)
#6 I Found A Rather Tiny Salamander At Work Today, Chilling In The Morning Rain
Image source: PhoxBoxr
#7 Found This Little Guy Scurrying Around At Work! At Least Someone Was Having A Good Monday
Image source: SMaddox50
#8 I Work In It, Finding This In The Server Room Made My Day
Image source: Kimentor
#9 My Boyfriend Found An Ammonite Fossil While Using An Excavator At Work. Ammonites Went Extinct About 66 Million Years Ago
Image source: mrssnrub
To test their hypothesis, the researchers carried out a survey of four service-oriented occupations (healthcare, government, teaching, and fitness) over a period of six weeks. (Nearly three-quarters of the participants were women, most of whom were between 30 and 50 years of age.)
Each week, they asked each participant to reflect on what had happened to them at work, and the results revealed that being in a state of awareness helped people experience more meaningful work.
When people are intentionally aware of their actions, reactions, and thoughts, they naturally become more attentive to the environment they’re operating in. They become more attuned to their coworkers and their everyday interactions, listen more actively, become stronger communicators, and better understand the context behind people’s words and actions.
“This awareness adds clarity and vividness to their experiences, allowing them to see previously unattended information that makes their tasks feel more purposeful,” the researchers explained.
#10 A Coworker Said There Was A Walk-In Fridge In The Break Room…… Wasn’t Disappointed
Image source: Pwnspoon
#11 My Husband Found This Tucked Behind Some Shrubs At His Office Complex
Image source: chitowntopugetsound
Another important discovery was that the more aware people were, the more flexible their thinking was.
This helped them find creative ways to handle challenging situations, making their work feel more meaningful overall as well.
#12 Spotted This Amazing Door Stop At Work
Image source: ryankrameretc
#13 This Mushroom I Found At Work, Never Seen Anything Like It
Image source: Louie_White
#14 I Work In Low-Income/Mental Health Housing, And A Tenant Fixed Our Hallway Trash Bin After Accidentally Breaking It
Great example of the odd ways people show me appreciation at work.
Image source: king_eve
#15 A Friend Of Mine Found A Mammoth Tusk While Working Up North
Image source: reddit.com
Once the researchers learned that awareness helps people make meaning of their work, they further explored what employees notice in this state and how it affects them. In their second study, they asked employees in engineering, the public sector, and financial services to reflect on meaningful work events over four weeks, along with the thoughts and feelings associated with them.
Each week, participants wrote these reflections in a document and submitted them at the end of the week. The aim was to encourage 10 to 15 minutes of focused reflection.
The researchers found that in this more mindful state, participants paid closer attention to relationships. These relationships — with colleagues, managers, and clients — often made work feel more meaningful by highlighting the human side of it.
#16 I Found A Piece Of Chrome At Work That Looks Cool
Image source: skatermario3
#17 Mineral Named Turgite – Found This While Working In An Iron Ore Mine, Remote Western Australia
Image source: tony_the_greatest
#18 I Saw This At Work Today And I Was Crying
Image source: K-DUGZ
#19 We Got These Giant Screws In At Work For Mounting Solar Panels
Image source: anonymous
So what’s actually in our control when it comes to finding meaning in everyday work? Based on the research, here are a few practical things that help:
- Practice mindfulness. Even short daily exercises can boost awareness, reduce overthinking, and help people respond more clearly to what’s happening at work.
- Build intentional awareness. Simple habits like journaling (“What felt meaningful today?”) can make a difference. Teams can also do this together by briefly sharing what felt meaningful in meetings or check-ins.
- Invest in relationships. Work feels more meaningful when relationships are respectful, supportive, and safe. Things like listening properly, showing appreciation, and respecting people’s time all matter.
- Create feedback and reflection loops. Regular recognition and short reflections on past, present, and future progress help people feel their work has an impact. This can easily be built into one-on-ones or team meetings.
As work becomes more automated and roles change, meaning and purpose will likely matter more as well. And since there isn’t an unlimited supply of easter eggs scattered around our workplaces to entertain us, we need to do something about ourselves.
#20 I Work At A School And We Just Cut All The Left Over Locks Of The Lockers. We Got To Keep Anything We Found So Long Story Short This Is My New Corset
Image source: ParkoPolo
#21 Found An Indented Penny At Work
Image source: banghart00
#22 What’s Your Best “Who Closed Last Night Situation?”
Was working at this place doing morning prep. I walk in the building and go to clock in before turning on the lights and I notice a faint blue glow from the kitchen. Come to find out the torch had somehow been left lit on a shelf overnight. The last crème brûlée was an hour before close as well. I want someone to show me something that’ll top this please.
Image source: Bignosenick
#23 Found A Bible From 1882 Today While Cleaning Out A Storage Unit At Work
Image source: succubussiren
#24 This Cool Moth I Saw At Work Today
Image source: ramathorn152
#25 Found A Chainmail Today On My Lunch Break At Work Outside Of Walmart
Very very heavy so I know it’s not an aluminum suit like larpers wear. The photo is the original state I found it in.
Image source: stankyblumpkin
#26 Found A Heart Shaped Tomato At Work
Image source: candles_in_the_dark
#27 This Mouse I Found At My Work Has A Calculator On It
Image source: Mtndewed6814
#28 Found This In The Ceiling At Work. Great Job Chris
Image source: texacer
#29 Found A Receipt For A Boeing 737 Purchase At Work Today
Image source: Met76
#30 Found This Box At Work. I Am A Robot
Image source: reddit.com
#31 Found A Safe At Work And Opened It
Image source: username81706
#32 This Is An Actual Package Found At Work
Image source: reddit.com
#33 These Knives At My Work Have Been Used So Much They’re Almost Gone
Image source: wadeboggs127
#34 I Know This Is More Of A Goofy Thing, But We Keep Finding Random Toys Around The Workplace And It’s Pretty Funny
Image source: reddit.com
#35 Whenever We Clean The Ball Pit At Work, The Most Broken Balls We Find Are Always Orange
Image source: lucasearlgray
#36 Cleaning Out Our Schools Teacher Lounge And Found This
Image source: deleted
#37 This Mini Laptop I Found At Work
Image source: Sloth_Luvs_Chunk
#38 I Found A Little Baggy Of Coca Cola At Work
Image source: benwhosometimesdraws
#39 iBook I Found In Cultural Archives From Museum Im Working
Image source: AlternativeLiving823
#40 Secret Recording Device Under Break Room Table At Work
Image source: Egomzez
#41 A Work Colleague Found This Behind A Hot Water Heater He Replaced Today
Image source: reddit.com
#42 I Found A Ridiculously Large Chair At Work
Image source: Waylonzo
#43 Years Of Paint Build Up I Chipped Of An Old Trestle At Work
Image source: AusShroomer
#44 A Note I Found In The Utensils Cabinet At My Work
Image source: Majahzi
#45 Work In Food Production, Found A Baby Carrot We All Thought Was A Human Finger At First
Image source: AlwaysAlpharius
#46 My Brother Found This Fossil While Doing Construction For Work
Image source: leightonlyric
#47 I Work In A Building Built In The Early 1900’s. While Running Cables Through The Ceiling, I Found This Old Dr. Pepper Can, Late 60’s Early 70’s?
It cleaned up nice and in almost perfect condition!
Image source: sleuthycuban
#48 This Guy At Work’s Huge “Dad Wallet”
Image source: deleted
#49 Found This At Work. Any Idea What It May Be Used For? We Are Stumped And No One Knows Where It Came From
Image source: cherry-cheeseburger
#50 An Iridovirus Infected Isopod (Roly-Poly) I Found At Work
Image source: reddit.com
#51 Found This Gem In A Bag Of Work Rags
Image source: Spitfire138
#52 I Found Some Pepto-Bismol That Was Bottled In 1959 In The Bathroom At Work
Image source: reddit.com
#53 Soviet Union Coin I Got At Work, Dated 1961
Image source: Swifterpostinmemes
#54 What My Dad Found When Working On Someone’s Mower
Person dropped this mower off for my dad to take a look at. This is what he found when he removed the engine cover. Dad did get it running after clearing the debris and gave it some TLC.
Image source: Empire7173
#55 Found A Thor’s Hammer At Workdesk I Booked
Had booked a desk online for my office visit (we have to book desks every time we work from office), and found this Thor’s hammer on the desk. Now the question is – should I leave it as is when I leave work, or is it mine to take now? Please note that the desks are not allotted to any individuals and there is no way to identify the owner of this hammer.
Image source: reddit.com
#56 Found This Phone At Work
Image source: MissMoo7716
#57 Found This Guy In The Bathroom At Work Today
Image source: CommercialDrop816
#58 Found This While Working At Mcdonalds
Image source: reddit.com
#59 My Supervisor Went To See Deadpool 2 Over The Weekend. I Came Into Work Today And Found This
Image source: Cogsmith13
#60 Found This 100$ Bill On The Floor At Work. Im Guessing The Melting Ben Franklin Means Its Fake
Image source: Jack-Loves-Minecraft
#61 What It’s Like Working With All Women And Their Lunch Purses
Image source: Nyrfan82
#62 Found In The Break Room Restroom . Someone Must Have Had A Bad Overnight Shift
Image source: euph1996
#63 Left On The Break Room Table At Work
Image source: reddit.com
#64 So I Found Out That My Shoes Have A Hole In Them… At The Urinal At Work
Image source: AFallingWall
#65 Found In Tip Jar At Work, Us
Image source: BoiIEd
#66 Found This In The Break Room
Image source: Important_Welcome_64
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