According to Professor Degges-White, we might feel the urge to rebel when we become teenagers. However, this doesn’t change the fact that rules, as a whole, are vital to have.

“During adolescence, the urge to challenge parents takes hold, but without rules/expectations, we would feel adrift. While some of us will always try to bend the rules, break the rules, or challenge the rules, there is comfort in knowing that large-scale chaos isn't going to happen due to the rules that we may be fighting against,” she told Bored Panda.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that everyone has a different level of tolerance for following the rules. Some might embrace them to the fullest and have a difficult time living outside their routines. Meanwhile, others rebel against any and all rules (sometimes to the point of absurdity).

“There are some people who feel that any attempts to get them to ‘fall in line’ are unacceptable. I once worked with someone who would always turn in their reports late—whether it was late by a day or just a couple of minutes past the stated deadline, they were consistently going to buck the deadline,” Professor Degges-White revealed to Bored Panda.

“When asked why they behaved in this way, their response was that they were able to maintain control when they didn't follow the rules. For them, rules at work were something to be broken in order to satisfy their ‘control freak’ tendency,” she said.

“Others, though, use rules as ‘base level expectations’ and want to exceed those expectations and follow rules to a ‘t.’ They maintain their own sense of control by staying way inside of the rules—they take pride in this behavior.”.

Whatever each individual’s tolerance for rules might be, society as a whole would fall apart without them.

“Everyone has a different view on rules/boundaries and it might be nature for some and nurture for others. However, on a larger scale, societies cannot function without clear rules and boundaries. Chaos and anarchy result—at any level—when rules fall by the wayside,” the professor told Bored Panda.

Having structure in your life can help you deal with stress. Strict schedules and routines can be very useful when the world seems unpredictable and your future looks uncertain. It’s something to fall back on. Something to rely on. It’s something to give you a sense of control when there’s chaos left, right, and center.

In fact, a lack of structure can actually lead to more stress down the line. “If people don't have structure and are sitting around with less to focus on, then they also probably will find themselves thinking about the stressful situation more, which can also lead to additional stress and anxiety,” Rachel Goldman, Ph.D., told Very Well Mind

Besides lowering your stress levels, having a regular routine can help you form healthy habits, and make you feel more focused and productive. This can work both with self-imposed and outwardly-imposed routines. However, in some cases, we might not agree with all the rules in place. We might question the need for them or we might feel that the alternatives that we propose are far better.

This can lead to tension between those imposing and enforcing the rules, as well as those who are expected to abide by them. Let’s be frank, some workplace rules are truly bonkers, have no bearing to reality, or might be in place to stroke some managers’ egos. Meanwhile, others might be there for good reason (even if it’s not immediately apparent). It all comes down to good, effective leadership and whether or not bosses actually care about their employees. A good leader can create rules that make sense and benefit (nearly) everyone, not just the few.

Eddy Ng, the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University, told Bored Panda earlier that strong leaders in the workplace are those who are moral, principled, and choose to do the right thing. They stand in stark contrast to weak leaders who only do the things that make them popular and have a hard time making firm decisions: they flip-flop, they dither, they can’t make up their minds.

“The notion of servant leadership is gaining attention in the workplace. Although it is associated with many of the strong leadership traits such as empathy, selflessness, and humility, the focus is on the leader’s propensity to serve (or support) their followers. Servant leaders empower and lift up followers (employees) to motivate and fuel their passion,” the professor explained to Bored Panda.