Thankfully it is many years now since I worked in a Pressure Cooker atmosphere. Like everyone else who works, you have the job you are officially being paid to do. Beyond this however, somehow you must quickly learn how to sidestep the potential minefields amidst that home of toxic waste, office politics.
For most of my working life, I really needed the job so choking down office politics and not aligning myself among any of the cliques, particularly petty and malicious when Women were involved, was something I somehow had to try and do. It did not make working life great fun, but it did make me realize a couple of important things.
There are some people who are Busy Being Busy. I once suggested using a lighter over a coworkers desk, if dumping the whole mess onto the floor didn’t work, as a potential solution to the many piles of paper permanently piled on top of it.
There are other people who seem to sail through life with plenty of time to make dates, trade for their personal portfolio’s, have long conversations with their friends and still somehow get the credit for your work and theirs.
Like it or not, this is the Reality we all deal with when interacting with other people; each subjectively concerned with their own world and its members.
Another thing I learned was that you can be as overworked and overloaded as you like, but when someone decides you are leaving, you immediately become Expendable. Since very often this is not a personal decision (though you are effected personally and might feel it is), you can say your Goodbyes, and pass on your work to the 3 or 4 people most directly concerned, who incidentally probably should have been doing it all along anyway.
Then about a week after leaving, stop having Nightmares about how much Work you have to have done by the end of the week. It has blessedly become somebody else’s problem.
Every big city has its Workaholics. Even in Paris, they have those who consider their lives to be Metro-Boulot-Dodo (Commute-Work-Sleep), just like the rest of us. Maybe they are doing what they feel they need to but then again, maybe they aren't doing anything of value except spinning on the same treadmill every day.
What I am saying is that you are not Indispensable; you can and will be replaced, at some point, so Quit Taking Yourself So Seriously. The world is neither a cold and cruel place, nor is the weight of it resting on your narrow little shoulders either. Try to infuse some Objectivity into your work life.
The Friends you have now can’t wait forever for you to make time for them at some future date. Use your life or lose your life to an impersonal career. It won't keep you happy or warm or loved or cared for. You may make some money. Later you can pay for someone to keep you company.
When you die alone and unloved, you will have come full circle, your heirs will enjoy your money even if you wouldn't or couldn't.
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