Redefine workplace boundaries to build sustainable success

SOMEWHERE along the way, many of us signed this invisible contract stating that success demands sacrifice.

- ALLI KUSHNER

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.

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.