Is Quiet Quitting the Answer to Your Work-Life Balance?

Is Quiet Quitting the Answer to Your Work-Life Balance?

A new TikTok trend has captured the attention of the masses, but this time, it’s got nothing to do with gut health or hot girl walks. The latest trend to explode all over the internet is centred on avoiding burnout and managing stressful expectations at work. Enter quiet quitting, the TikTok obsession that’s all about prioritising mental health at work.

If you’re new to TikTok’s quiet quitting wave and want to be clued in on what it means, here’s your simple guide.

What is quiet quitting all about?

quiet quitting
What’s the deal with quiet quitting? Getty

First thing’s first. No, this is not an invitation to literally quit your job quietly. Instead, it promotes the idea of opting out of the culture of burning yourself out by overcommitting at work and taking on far too much.

In short, quiet quitting is about doing your job and nothing beyond that.

The ABC referred to a TikTok video by creator @zkchillin, which explains the term pretty well.

@zkchillin

On quiet quitting #workreform

♬ original sound – ruby

“You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” @zkchillin shared.

“You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life. The reality is it’s not. And your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”

Burnout and the need for change

The rise in terms like ‘languishing’, ‘The Great Resignation‘, and our old favourite ‘burnout’ each point to a broader need for working environments to change. Folks are pushing through incredibly taxing times, what with a global pandemic, economic insecurity and a climate that is in dire straights.

It’s been so trying for some, in fact, that millennials have been nicknamed “the burnout generation”, which is fun for us.

Quiet quitting is more of the same. It hints at people feeling desperate for a break and looking for an opportunity to take their foot off the gas.

If you’re considering quiet quitting

For some, hearing the term quiet quitting simply alludes to applying boundaries to work expectations and committing to work/life balance. For others, it may mean significantly changing their approach to work. If that’s the case, perhaps it’s work taking a look at what your job requires and speaking with a manager about a shift.

Jennifer Luke, a research fellow at the University of Southern Queensland’s Southern Queensland Northern NSW Innovation Hub spoke with the ABC about the turn towards quiet quitting and stressed that pulling back is one thing, but if you genuinely don’t want to be at work at all, that’s another situation entirely.

“If you’re thinking, ‘This is not where I want to be’, be proactive and find out what is happening in areas which align with your core values,” she told the outlet.

There have also been discussions online (mostly TikTok) regarding the possibility that giving a name to the act of simply not driving yourself into the ground at work is kind of ridiculous. Instead, some think we should just be calling this healthy work behaviour, not quiet quitting (like it’s a new trend).

@gabrielle_judge

What are your thoughts? #quietquitting #workintech #techlayoffs

♬ Oblivion – Grimes

So, what do you think? Is this a useful reminder for people? Or is quiet quitting framing normal boundaries as something new and almost rebellious?


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