Burn books are showing up in offices, and just like Mean Girls‘s high school principal, we’re scared and about to sound the alarm.
The movie’s “burn book”—the notebook where Regina George and her minions wrote down awful things about everyone who rubbed them the wrong way—is iconic. In the movie, when the burn book goes public, it ignites a jungle-style fight in the high school halls. We hadn’t thought burn books were meant to be emulated!
But don’t try telling that to TikTok because you might just end up in one. According to the social media site, burn books are trending. No, not in the bedrooms of clique-y teens—but among irritated employees.
One recent video, addressed to those who work from home, explains how a (very private) burn book where you write down the obnoxious things coworkers or bosses do can help you vent some of your frustrations. The video, posted by user @tropicalagitations, is overlaid with the text, “please don’t attempt this if you work in an office.” In it, the user shares how she keeps a notebook by her desk to rid herself of her daily work angst while she works.
“You’re writing down for your own catharsis: Why would you say that? Your haircut is ugly. As petty as you want,” the video says. “Whatever you have to do to get it out of your system to release your inner demons.” The video currently has more than 741,000 views, so it’s clearly resonating with WFH employees who have gripes they don’t want to let bubble over and affect their productivity.
However, it seems that not everyone is taking the “only try this at home” advice to heart. Search the hashtag #burnbook on TikTok, and you’ can ‘ll find a great number of videos by users leaning into the trend who work from home and the office. Some even call out coworkers by their name and photograph.
Clearly, some of these burn books are in good fun and not meant to be cruel. Many are even posted from business accounts as a way of connecting with employees, by giving them playful labels taken from the film. One video, posted by Bam Advertising, shows a burn book with office workers labeled with funny descriptions like “eats kids’ food,” “Swiftie,” and “donut hater.”
However, others are serious about their burn books and how the trend may actually help workers cope with the daily annoyances regardless of where they work. One burn book video, posted by @mirandaarmfield, has the user saying, “I feel like this is gonna be really helpful when you have to listen to people all day,” and argues that it can be really grating to listen to certain people who repeat themselves, have annoying habits, and so on. The video is overlaid with the words, “Work burn book = better mental health.”
Nathalie Savell, a psychotherapist based in Maryland, agrees that getting out frustrations is often better than keeping them in. But she warns that those using the technique need to stay self-aware about the habit.
“Venting encourages certain patterns in the brain, so there needs to be some kind of limit on it, or it may perpetuate negative-thinking patterns,” she tells Fast Company. Savell adds that “people can easily get stuck in complaining mode,” so having a positive mindset, rather than focusing too much on the negative, is important.
Writing down frustrations in a diary-like format is certainly better than exploding on coworkers. It may even help workers let go of some general work angst. But as Savell cautions, maybe don’t go full “mean girl,” or just like in the film, it may be hard to change the pattern.
And definitely don’t let those unleashed inner thoughts escape your home office, or the result could be more than a hall fight. It could put you out of a job.