Both employees and employers must work together to create a work-life balance for self-care, productivity
Published Date – 28 January 2024, 11:50 PM
By Stuti Kumar & Dr Moitrayee Das
We’ve all experienced the impending dread as another gruelling workweek approaches after each relaxing weekend, complete with feelings of quitting our current jobs and embarking on a completely different path altogether. The feeling of wanting to reinvent ourselves may be explained as on a whim, but more persistent feelings of hopelessness at work, dissatisfaction and a struggle to prioritise the self can lead to a worse outcome: burnout. As digital natives, it is only appropriate that we then turn to the internet to find a fix for this inevitable exhaustion – and a potential answer it means to do work that is ‘meaningful’.
Unbearable Burnout
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted many lives and was a balancing act between worrying about finances and worrying about health that triggered emotional overload and burnout at work, especially for essential workers. At the height of such emotional turmoil and societal chaos, it is no wonder that people’s priorities will also undergo a major transformation. The Great Resignation, also known by equally apt terms such as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle, came as a culmination of everyone’s anxieties and a search for opportunities and growth amid a complicated economic picture. A 2020 survey conducted by Microsoft noted that India was the second- largest country to face employee burnout due to the shift to fully remote work.
However, even a few years down, there has not been much of a change: a 2022 Slack study reported that more than half (54%) of Indian knowledge workers experience burnout, with around 65% planning on switching jobs within the next year or so. According to the survey, Gen-Z – those aged between 18 and 25 – had the highest percentage of people who were experiencing burnout, closely followed by millennials, and unsurprisingly, had the greatest number of individuals who were dissatisfied with their jobs. This study, alongside many more conducted on work-from-home experiences and employee work-life balance during and after the pandemic, points towards a long overdue workplace revolution. As young professionals manoeuvre through the professional landscape, prioritising self-care and a balanced work-life, behavioural patterns such as ‘quiet quitting’ and advocating for a four-day workweek have surfaced.
The most recent career phenomenon gaining traction on the internet is now known as ‘Try-Less Tuesdays’. But to call these movements ‘trends’ is something that devalues what they essentially stand for – a reinvention of what it means to have meaning and autonomy in the work that you do.
Anti-Work
The term ‘anti-work’ is less a ploy for avoiding work at all costs, and more a cry for developing a more engaging system that rewards workers when it is due and supports mental well-being. Stereotypes of Gen-Z workers across media have led to major misconceptions about their work ethic, which feeds into the mentality that the current generation is ‘entitled’ to and ‘unprepared for the workforce’ – when, in fact, the only thing that has changed between the older generations is their motivations and ability to set boundaries between their work and personal life, while contributing to both equally. TikTok content creator Maris Mayes introduced the concept of ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’, suggesting the approach of starting the work week by placing a greater emphasis on self-care than on productivity.
The discussion sparked by the video goes beyond Gen- Z, delving into the core of the conventional 9-5 work schedule and its applicability in today’s fast-paced world. Competitive compensation is just not enough to attract – and retain – working individuals. A 2023 global report by Slack instead highlights the importance of flexibility at work, especially for desk workers. While discussions about workplace flexibility commonly focus on the physical work environment, over half (52%) of desk workers assert that a flexible work schedule is among the most effective ways for employers to enhance their productivity and engagement – this, in turn, is correlated with a happier employee in the same survey. This calls for a move from the traditional workplace practices – that are, more often than not, quite toxic – to more adaptable norms.
Being a Person
Whether individuals are notably more disengaged with their work recently than in the past, it is logical that these concepts have gained popularity in the aftermath of correlated phenomena such as the Great Resignation and the anti-work movement. Considering the connection between heightened employee engagement and increased productivity, addressing these concerns is not only important at an individual level, but it also falls into the hands of the organisations and companies employing them.
The broader conversation here is that work-life balance is still something that both employees and employers need to work together to create, and increased flexibility in the form of remote work is only one side of the coin. According to a statement by Mayes for Insider, ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ was a “way to start the week prioritising yourself as a person over yourself as an employee. It’s radically changed my life, not because of the productivity, but because of that self-compassion.”
Doing the bare minimum at work and experiencing a psychological disconnect from one’s job may, according to a recent statement from a career coach to the New York Times, imply a missed opportunity to discover genuine purpose in life. But it is equally likely that individuals who identify as quiet quitters are actively seeking their sense of purpose and identity in realms beyond their jobs – whether through relationships, family, hobbies, activism, spirituality, creative endeavours or a blend of these elements.
In a world where burnout is the norm and people struggle to find purpose in their work, value-driven work and an equally enriching work environment are key. But even a little bit of ‘laziness’ goes a long way, and if the definition of laziness is wanting more time to enjoy life outside of work, then we should all embrace it.
