I have seen talk of what some people have dubbed ‘quiet quitting’ where in some weird silent protest, you stop being productive at work and instead become a dead weight, because you ‘don’t like’ it. Believing in some way it shows up the employer or the workplace as having the issue. And maybe there are issues that need to be dealt with, but not quite sure how not working or communicating said issues is a positive thing.

Maybe I have missed a point or something, but it just sounds like a very childish thing to do, and as well as wasting time and resources for your employer, you are actually wasting your own time and selling yourself short. I have had many jobs, and have left many jobs. I may not have left right away when I knew it wasn’t for me, but I sure as shit didn’t drag everyone else down with me, which is what this sounds like to me.

Instead I took action to either change what I didn’t like about my workplace, management or role, or left to go and work hard somewhere else. It was that simple and covered in my piece Work ethic and employment. Refusing to lower my standards for someone else, rather just accepting that I was no longer of use where I was. Played out in real time in one particular job where the manager was useless, the staff knew it and we were failing as an office because of it, so I reported them. In the meeting to discuss it (I was 21 at the time), the area manager said they knew they knew the manager was crap, but good managers don’t grow on trees, I should lower my standards. And being honest, it was probably one of the best things he could have said, because it shocked me slightly that anyone would expect me to lower my standards to fit a failing system, and it also clearly showed me I was working with the wrong people. When something has run its course important to know when Walking Away is appropriate. By staying and just demotivating yourself, when you could be getting on with that you could or should be doing, seems very counter productive. To me anyway.

I also developed a certain mindset rather early on, that when I quit something it wasn’t a failure on my part, it was a move to stop wasting time and took me a step closer to what I was meant to be doing, whatever that was. It became a positive thing, although that didn’t mean I just went and quit at the drop of a hat, but my length of time at jobs became less and less throughout my 20’s as my confidence, skills and ability developed further. I realised I wouldn’t get what I was seeking from a workplace, or a boss, so at 27 started my own business in admin and finance, making sure I could work to my standard and level of professionalism. If I had lowered my standard, or reduced my interests because of someone else demotivaing me (and there have been many who could have), I quite probably wouldn’t have made it this far, still running my business. And setting up another one a few later later for all my creative endeavours.

Quiet quitting to me, means quitting on yourself, but by using someone else as way of an excuse. Take ownership of your own situation, recognise what it is you don’t like about it, or the person/people causing it, and work to change it, or remove yourself from it. Don’t sink to their level as they say, use it to realise you are not like them.

There are of course, a few people, who are not quiet quitters at all through demotivation, they are simply just lazy and don’t pull their weight, and never did. instead getting their feet under the table and doing as little as possible to get by, and get paid. Furlough really let those people shine through, but looks like many are here to stay, for a short while anyway. There will be many job losses coming over the coming months if the ridiculous and catastrophic energy debacle is allowed to continue. Where only supermarkets and homes will have power, and everything else will be closed or running on rations. Sounds fun doesn’t it? I do understand that now we have a different landscape for work and employment dawning, you can’t train or plan properly anymore and I commend any small businesses that make it through, whatever your attitude. And I don’t blame poeple for not really feeling like their heart is in it anymore, it’s been metaphorically ripped out of their chest in some cases, so being demotivated is a real problem right now, and not through laziness, but sheer worry.

So, we really need people to be thinking about making things work and actually doing it, rather than putting your feet up, switching off and thinking someone else is going to do it for you and not even caring if it works or not. This is your life, take control and take part while you still can…

(c) K Wicks