Is Quiet Quitting Good For Your Mental Health?

Have you ever felt like you just can’t work even a minute more after your working hours have ended? I have recently been in a phase where I just focused on finishing my expected tasks for the day and could not even look at other work-related emails and messages.

This behavior is called ‘Quiet Quitting’. What happens here is that you simply become a non-flexible machine that responds only to the specific commands entered and nothing else. Basically, you just do things that are absolutely necessary for the day until your working hours are over.

The term ‘Quiet Quitting’ has become popular because it is being used a lot on TikTok and other social media platforms. Many employers are annoyed with this behavior and condemn quiet quitting.

What do you think of quiet quitting? Is it an employee’s lack of efficiency or an indication of something else? Before you think of an answer, let’s get to know the concept of ‘quiet quitting’ a little better…

What Do You Mean By Quiet Quitting?

If you ask me to define quiet quitting, I will say, quiet quitting is a behavior or a thought process that arises as a result of experiencing extreme stress or burnout, especially in a work setting. If you are looking for a standard definition of quiet quitting, I’m afraid you won’t find one.

Quiet quitting does not mean that you quietly quit your job, it’s far from that. Quiet quitting basically means that you put a decent amount of effort into work only during your work hours. You simply do not go an extra mile for work.

Quiet quitting is definitely not being lazy, it’s something beyond that. Quiet quitting is a response to stress and burnout. One engages in quiet quitting only when they are overwhelmed with everything that’s happening around them or is extremely overworked and can’t handle that pressure anymore.

To know what quiet quitting looks like, let’s look at the signs of quiet quitting…

What Does Quiet Quitting Look Like?

The term quiet quitting must have surfaced recently but this stress/burnout response has always been there. Some mental health experts proposed some signs that point towards the quiet quitting behavior.

Let’s have a look at the signs of quiet quitting;

• Not accepting tasks that do not fall in your job description
• Not engaging/replying to emails/messages outside your working hours
• Work strike during working hours (irrespective of how much work is pending)
• Not as invested in office as you used to be
• No drive or motivation to go an extra mile
• Do not expect to be promoted further

Quiet quitting is like doing just the minimum according to your job requirement. You show no interest in what is happening at the office and have no feedback or sharing ideas during meetings. While ‘quiet quitting’ some people also reduce social interaction or show any excitement about work.

But the question here is, why do people engage in quiet quitting? What can be the reason behind it? Let’s find out…

Also read: Managing Stress at Workplace: Understand and Deal with it

Why Do People Engage In Quiet Quitting?

As we discussed earlier, quiet quitting can be a stress/burnout response, experts say that quiet quitting is a kind of coping mechanism which comes into play when an individual is overworked and overwhelmed because of work-life imbalance.

One of the main reasons behind quitting is experiencing prolonged stress at the workplace or in personal life or experiencing job burnout because of various reasons. Basically quitting is done to protect oneself from the overload of work.

Other than mental health reasons, there are other reasons for someone to engage in quiet quitting as well. Some people do it if they feel like there has been no increment in their salary in a long period of time. Other than that, when employees are expected to do a lot more than their ability and knowledge, they can begin to quit.

The Upside & Downside Of Quiet Quitting

Different people have different views on Quiet quitting. This can be because quiet quitting has an upside as well as a downside to it. Let’s have a look at both sides of this concept of quiet quitting;

Upside;

• Quiet quitting sometimes acts as a personal boundary (helps with burnout)
• Quiet quitting helps in reducing prolonged work stress
• Quiet quitting boosts work well-being by reducing higher expectations
• Quiet quitting helps you get out of the rat race
• Quiet quitting safeguards a distinction between work life and personal life

Downside;

• Quiet quitting demotivates and pulls you away from your work
• Quiet quitting reduces job satisfaction
• Quiet quitting makes your job meaningless and boring
• Quiet quitting can aid symptoms of depression
• Quiet quitting instills guilt and shame

That’s All Folks!

I hope you found this blog about quiet quitting informative and thought-provoking. I am assuming that now you have a fairly decent knowledge of what quiet quitting, what quiet quitting looks like and why people engage in quiet quitting.

It’s time for you to tell us your thoughts on quiet quitting. I think quiet quitting is a burnout response and it should be treated as an indication that you need to take a break and manage your burnout. Quiet quitting is not a good coping strategy so we shouldn’t treat it like a solution but as a sign that you’ve been overworked and you need a break.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.