How Late-Night Habits Cost This Employee His Dream Remote Job

A Cautionary Tale from Reddit

In recent months, Reddit has emerged as a popular platform for employees to share their job struggles and workplace concerns. One particular post caught attention, where an employee confessed how his habit of staying up late and doomscrolling led him to lose his dream job.

The user, calling himself "an idiot", expressed his regret over losing such a coveted position due to his irresponsibility. He detailed his journey: "After a year of applying daily to tons of jobs, I landed a high-paying remote job. It was everything I wanted. Long story short, I would stay up late texting and scrolling like an idiot, and some days I would sleep in, maybe 10-15 minutes max, but this happened a few times."

His manager soon noticed his late logins and confronted him. Rather than admitting the truth, he lied, attributing his tardiness to technical issues. "I didn't have the guts to tell the truth, so I lied about having technical problems. Well, I got fired, and I feel like an absolute loser. I'm hopeless and back to square one. After college, I've had 2 jobs, and they lasted only 3 months; it looks terrible on my resume. I've been applying again, but the feeling of losing a dream job over something so easy is really getting to me emotionally," he lamented.

In his backstory, he acknowledged, "I 100% understand I'm in the wrong and what I need to do to fix it. I love money—who doesn't? But I believe what made me less motivated to wake up on time and be excited about the job is that it’s not something I’m passionate about. The stuff I am into is super hard to get into, such as the airline and automotive industry."

Community Reactions

Since being shared, the post has gone viral, amassing over 1,500 upvotes and numerous comments. Many users provided insights and advice:

• One user advised, "Remote computer work is probably not a good fit for you. Not everyone can focus on work in an environment where there are endless distractions."
• Another user encouraged him to view this as a learning opportunity, stating, "This is your chance to learn and do better. Today, I'm proud of being a great professional, but I wasn't when I started 2 decades ago."
• A third user remarked, "It happens, but this is why we are losing remote jobs. You couldn't even handle getting online by 9 am. Live and learn. Don't think of it as a dead end but a new beginning."