Feel Urge to ‘Quiet Quit’? Check your mental health
Sara M. Moniuszko
USA TODAY
Burned out after logging excessive hours during the pandemic? Join the ever-growing club.
Millions of Americans are resolving to meet their job requirements but not go beyond. No pulling late nights, no weekend calls and no pushing yourself too hard during business hours.
The mindset is known as “quiet quitting,” and experts say it’s a result of COVID-19’s impact on work-life
balance and a sign to check in with yourself.
“A lot of people blended work and home because we were working from home and because we didn’t have much else to do,” says Amy Morin, psychotherapist and editor-in-chief of Verywell Mind. “Now that life is getting back to some semblance of normal, people are starting to think, ‘I don’t want to work in the evenings’ or‘I don’t want to work all weekend.’”
What is ‘quiet quitting’?
The term “quiet quitting” was first popularized by TikTok creator Zaid Khan in a video late last month that has drawn millions of views.“You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” Khan explained in the video. Nearly half of white-collar workers said they’re turning down projects more frequently now than before the health crisis and resulting labor shortages, according to a May survey of professionals by Korn Ferry. And 62% said they feel more emboldened to insist on a better work-life balance since the labor crunch began.
COVID-19 burnout has intensified the trend. Early in the pandemic, companies pushed workers to the limit as people filled in for their millions of colleagues laid off during business shutdowns and the millions more who stayed home to care for relatives or avoid contagion. While many Americans who have worked at home during the pandemic prefer the setup, it also has exacerbated burnout by coaxing them to do tasks or answer emails or calls at all hours. As recently as April, 51% of workers surveyed by the Harris Poll said they continued to feel burned out.
What does ‘quiet quitting’ reveal about mental health?
Some may confuse quiet quitting with loafing, being lazy, or not caring about work anymore. But Morin says it’s more about setting healthy boundaries to protect your mental health.
“People are scaling back ... Saying here’s what I’m willing to do, but here’s also what I’m not willing to do,” she says. “It’s about saying I value my personal life and I value my time off from work.”
In this sense, she thinks we shouldn’t look at it as a bad thing. “Because when people are taking care of themselves outside the office, they’re more productive while they’re at the office,” she adds.
How to balance work with mental health
If you’re feeling the urge to quiet quit (or have already begun to silently slip into this slower flow), make sure you’re keeping your mental health in check.
- Do some reflection. “For anybody who feels the need to engage in quiet quitting, the question would be: Why do you feel like you need to do that? Did you overdo it during the pandemic? Are you feeling burned out now? Do you feel like you had a hard time saying no? Were you invested in being an overachiever because you thought that was the only way to get promoted? Have your ideas of success changed over time?” Morin says. Answering these can help determine the reasoning behind the urge to quiet quit and may reveal a shift in values.
- Remember it’s OK to set boundaries. “It’s not about saying I’m not interested in achievement or I’m not trying to accomplish anything, but it’s about saying, I’m going to do my job and I’m going to do it well, but I don’t have to be an overachiever ... There’s really no glory in the in the 24/7 hustle and grind culture.”
- Implement self-care strategies. “The good news is that there can be small adjustments that begin to have a meaningful impact,” Neda Gould, Johns Hopkins University psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor, previously told USA TODAY. Gould recommends minor changes like incorporating small five-minute breaks throughout the work day and getting a fresh breath of air, if possible. “Really having some period of time where you can separate yourself from work, even if for a few minutes,” Gould said. “So you can refuel your tank.”
- Consider talking to a supervisor. “Sometimes people tend to scale back and then your supervisor is left wondering why they’re doing what they’re doing or why aren’t they doing the things they used to do,” Morin says. She adds a conversation with your boss, if you think they’d be receptive, about why your behavior might be changing can go something like this: “Yes, I am still invested in my job. I still love my work. I’ve just found that working too much isn’t good for my mental health, which also isn’t going to be good for my future career. So this is what I’m going to do and why I’m going to do it.” While it can be scary to start that conversation, it allows everybody to understand what’s going on. “It makes for a much better environment moving forward,” Morin adds.
