These Everyday Pet Peeves Are Driving Us Nuts—Which Ones Are on Your List?

What’s something small that totally wrecks your mood? If you’ve ever snapped because someone chewed too loudly or your phone buzzed during a meeting, you’re not alone.

A poll commissioned by the brand CBDfx reveals even the tiniest disruptions can seriously stress us out.

You’ll probably encounter at least one of them today, and here’s the through line: if there’s one thing that consistently annoys the hell out of us, it’s… other people. (Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you! 🫵)

Here are the Top 10 minor annoyances that disproportionately get under our skin:

1. Running into someone you’d rather avoid. Whether it’s an ex, an enemy, or just someone you don’t exactly enjoy–it’s never fun when you have to go into “fake friend” mode.

2. A surprise knock at the door. In this day and age, they didn’t at least call first? Or better yet, text? (See #6 below)

3. People talking to you when you need some peace and quiet. Like when you’re in the middle of a work project, and your cubicle mate Todd chimes in with, “If a tomato is a fruit, does that mean ketchup counts as a smoothie??” (Sure, Todd. Now STFU!)

4. Slow or spotty Wi-Fi. In an age where everything’s online, even a 10-second Wi-Fi hiccup can feel like you’re being suffocated.

5. Loud chewing. I hate to keep picking on Todd, but…

6. Getting a phone call from someone out of the blue. It wasn’t that long ago when random phone calls were seen as a nice surprise. But now it’s like a personal affront. (And God help you if you FaceTime me out of nowhere.)

7. Heavy breathing. (See #5)

8. Alarms going off. It doesn’t matter what the alarm sound is, you’ll learn to hate it. It’s why you should never use a favorite song as your morning alarm sound–it’ll be your least favorite in under a week.

9. A flood of text notifications. If you add me to a group text with more than 5 people, we might not be friends anymore.

10. Phone dings during work meetings. Honestly, that one’s on me. I should have had it on vibrate.

Each thing on the list might be no big deal as a one-off, but they do add up fast–especially in a world that’s already overstimulated and constantly connected.

Whether it’s the awkwardness of a surprise visit or the rage-inducing crunch crunch crunch of nearby snacking, these everyday annoyances can trigger an outsized emotional response.

How to calm down after these little disruptions?

According to the same survey, the top method for de-stressing is simple: listening to some music. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by minor irritations, maybe it’s time to reach for your headphones.

The poll found other go-to options include deep breathing, or snuggling your pet. (Please, just don’t do those deep breathing exercises if I’m within earshot!)