Redefine workplace boundaries to build sustainable success

SOMEWHERE along the way, many of us signed this invisible contract stating that success demands sacrifice. Time, health and relationships were all fair game in the pursuit of professional validation. However, professionals are increasingly realising that this is a contract they want to break.

- ALLI KUSHNER

In my twenties, I was the kind of employee managers loved and therapists worried about. I worked late without being asked. I answered emails during vacation and treated 11pm messages like asteroid-headed-for-Earth emergencies. My identity was stitched to my output and I wore burnout like a badge of honour.

Quiet quitting alternative

For me, becoming a parent made me realise that "powering through" was not just hard but unsustainable. My time was no longer mine to give away so freely. I started making small changes like declining late meetings, muting notifications after 6pm and blocking Friday afternoons for deep work so I could log off fully over the weekend. Each change felt like a micro-rebellion against my internalised idea of what defines a great professional.

Many employees today just make these shifts subtly. Somewhere between 20% and 40% of the workforce are quiet quitters, according to data from McKinsey and the Understanding Society - and part of me was tempted to just pull back quietly too. Instead, I decided to swing the other way.

I got louder about what I needed. I told colleagues when I was logging off and then actually logged off. I pushed back on two-day timelines and offered alternatives that protected both the quality of my work and my sanity. Most importantly, I stopped padding my newly-found boundaries with apologies.