There comes a point in every day when you have to make a decision.
Do I get involved?
Do I offer my opinion?
Do I spend the next forty minutes explaining why this is obviously a terrible idea?
Or do I quietly look at the situation, take a sip of whatever is keeping me functional and decide, with complete peace of mind, not my problem?
Personally, I think we should normalise the last one.
That is exactly why the Not My Problem Single Sticker from Fairly Quare Designs deserves a place on your laptop, notebook, Kindle case, water bottle or anywhere else you regularly need to remind yourself that you are not, in fact, responsible for fixing everyone's nonsense.
It costs €3, which feels like a very reasonable investment in emotional boundaries.
The beauty of it is the simplicity. No motivational speech. No complicated explanation. No twelve step programme for learning to say no. Just three words that have probably crossed your mind at least six times before lunch.
Not my problem.
And let's be honest, there is something quite liberating about it.
We live in an age where everyone is expected to have an opinion on everything. Someone has made a bad decision? Comment on it. Someone is arguing online? Pick a side. Someone you barely know has created a crisis that somehow requires your immediate attention? Apparently you should be available.
No.
Sometimes the healthiest response is to mind your own business.
The sticker makes that sentiment portable.
Stick it on your laptop at work and perhaps someone will take the hint. Put it on your notebook and let it serve as a reminder when your inbox starts filling up with things that could quite easily have been dealt with by someone else. Put it on your Kindle and enjoy the irony of being reminded to ignore everyone while you disappear into another fictional world.
There is also something satisfying about the fact that it is a small object with a very strong opinion.
The Not My Problem Single Sticker is handcrafted with a matte laminate and designed to be splash and scratch resistant, so it can handle everyday use without looking wrecked after five minutes in your bag. It is intended for indoor use rather than being left outside, which seems fair. Even the sticker has boundaries.
And if three euros feels like too much commitment for one boundary, there is currently a 4 for €10 multibuy across all stickers at Fairly Quare Designs. Add four stickers to your basket and the discount is applied automatically.
Which raises an important question.
Why stop at one?
You could have one for your laptop, one for your Kindle, one for your notebook and one reserved for the person in your life who has never once heard the phrase “leave it alone”.
Fairly Quare Designs has plenty of other stickers if “Not My Problem” does not quite cover the full extent of your personality, so you can build yourself a little collection of tiny declarations and stick them wherever you feel like it.
But there is something particularly good about this one because it is not really trying to be edgy for the sake of it.
It is funny because it is true.
We all have people who send us a message beginning with “Sorry to bother you” and then proceed to make their problem our problem.
We all have group chats that somehow become unpaid therapy sessions.
We all have that one colleague who approaches your desk with the words, “Have you got a minute?”
And we all know that a minute is never a fucking minute.
Sometimes you need a sticker.
Sometimes you need boundaries.
Sometimes you need both.
So if you have been looking for a funny sticker, sarcastic sticker, laptop sticker, funny gift for a friend, small gift, quirky stationery or just a tiny way of saying what you are thinking without actually having to say it, Not My Problem is available from Fairly Quare Designs for €3.
Buy one for yourself.
Buy four and save with the multibuy.
Give one to the friend who desperately needs to learn that not every disaster requires their involvement.
Then put your phone on silent, close the group chat and get back to whatever you were doing.
Because whatever happens next?
Well.
Not your problem.