Every year in the business world, we get introduced to a few new buzzwords. Currently, there’s a lot of discussion around the term “quiet quitting,” which has a different meaning than you might expect.
As a matter of fact, this term isn’t about quietly quitting your job in the corporate version of “ghosting” — it’s about no longer doing the extra work that many employees feel they must do to keep up a certain appearance. Keep reading to learn more about this concept and to get a few tips on how to create balance in your life without actually quitting!
Quiet Quitting Explained
This phrase expresses the idea of not taking your job “too seriously.” Of course, people should work hard while they’re at work and put their best foot forward, but it doesn’t need to take over every aspect of one’s life.
In other words, quiet quitting is the notion that you don’t have to do everything in your power to advance your career, from staying late nights in the office to picking up your work phone while on vacation. People should put focus on the other aspects of their lives that give them joy, such as spending time with friends and family, hobbies and passions, etc.
If you first learned about quiet quitting on social media, you may have seen content ranging from snarky jokes about corporate culture to helpful tips that can give employees ideas about creating healthy boundaries. The following tips will fall into the second category!
3 Tips for Creating Work Boundaries
When it comes to creating balance with work boundaries, it’s not just about not working weekends or shutting off Slack or Teams after 5 pm. There are other ways to ensure that you’re doing your job effectively while still having the time to live life outside of the workplace.
Optimize Your Work Schedule
If you don’t want to spend late nights in the office, make sure you have a plan for each workday. This means having a list of all the tasks you have to complete and meetings you have to attend.
If you find that this list is too long for a single day, try to reprioritize tasks and shift meetings to another workday (or reevaluate if you can communicate in another way, such as over email or a quick phone call). Having a plan beforehand can help you feel more at ease, as you’ll know you don’t have to do work-related tasks in the middle of the night.
Collaborate with Colleagues
If your plate is full and you feel overwhelmed with the projects on your schedule, consider asking for a different perspective. Collaborating with team members, even casually, can improve your productivity and give you the extra boost you need to get a project done or reduce your stress surrounding a task.
Communicating more with colleagues about projects and workloads can also give you insight into a point of view you might not have had before. Maybe they have a more efficient way of doing something or a helpful tool up their sleeve.
Limit Unnecessary Meetings
If you are able to make the choice, only attend the meetings where your contribution is needed or where the information is vital to your responsibilities. Sitting in unnecessary meetings is a massive waste of time, especially when that time could be spent getting work done so you don’t have to worry about it during non-work hours.
In Conclusion
The idea of “quiet quitting” is not harmful in any way if not taken to the extreme. However, even though your job shouldn’t be your entire life, it’s still an essential part of it, so why not optimize your workdays by implementing some helpful advice?
