For me the line was when I stopped showing up for my family. Sure you could argue that I did a bad job setting boundaries with work and there were definitely things I could have done better. But environment matters.
You can accomplish amazing things in a pressure cooker but it’s not sustainable and there is a toll. Mental exhaustion. Physical exhaustion. Disruption to personal relationships and family. Depression. It can even become difficult to celebrate your wins. That is a sign that something is very wrong. When you do something amazing but you can’t see it.
You don’t need the pressure cooker to do great things. And I think we can praise people for doing their jobs without expecting more. You hit your goals. Awesome job! I also thinks it’s important to recognize that there can be periods of intense focused hard work and then periods of rebuilding. 24/7 is no way to work or live.
Environments where it is full throttle every day all day can be exciting at first. Look at how fast paced we are. Look at how much we get done. But months and months of the unending grind begin to suck the life out of you. If you don’t have energy it’s hard to learn new things. And if you aren’t learning it feels like stagnation. And when you’re working harder then ever and going nowhere that can breed resentment. And that’s when people leave. Or when they do enough to make it through the day. It’s not quiet quitting it’s survival. It’s not the great resignation is the great reclaimation.
Because people go home and have a gaggle of hyperactive children that they take care of. Or they have a victory garden that needs tending. Or they write books on the side. Work is only one part of their lives. But it often takes up the majority of space. How does it serve anyone to not have the energy to show up for life outside of work?
Doesn’t it enrich society to give people the time and freedom to do beautiful things that aren’t just about bottom lines and productivity? Wouldn’t that actually make them more inclined to come to work rested and ready to go?
People aren’t suddenly going to decide to stop working. They need money to survive. But in order to THRIVE they also need art and family and laughter and friends and travel and good food and digging in the garden and blogging and dancing and the list goes on and on. And when people are thriving they can do incredible things!
I want to work with people who are thriving in every facet of their lives. And I also want to work where people have a healthy relationship with their job. And I think it’s just fine to do your job and then go do your life with as much gusto as it deserves.
Lastly, there is nothing wrong with hard work. I love hard work. I think people can and should work hard. But hard work should be invigorating not debilitating.
