Quiet quitting is going viral. It’s dominated recent conversations about work and outlets from the Wall Street Journal to Business Insider have covered it, documenting how workers are increasingly content with not going above and beyond.
Some people are quiet quitting because they want to prioritize the latter half of the work-life equation, whereas others simply aim to do the minimal amount of work without losing their paycheck.
To me, the trend signals that an increasing number of people are dissatisfied with their jobs and ready to take action, and also that more staffers seek a change of pace.
Yet, as I’ve written before in Tip Jar (sign up here), quiet quitting or leaving a post entirely isn’t necessarily the remedy to job dissatisfaction.
The same problems could be waiting for you at your next job, even if they might come repackaged. Lack of acknowledgment, work you don’t find meaningful, a sense of being overworked and underpaid aren’t that unique.
But I’m not here to discuss the merits of quiet quitting (there’s plenty of chatter online as is).
Rather, I want to dissect three things that can make your work better, and make you better at your work — which ultimately can allow you to enjoy yourself more, and be less inclined to quiet quit.
Invest in what others do not
There’s an idea traders use in the stock market called value investing, which effectively argues that opportunity lies where no one else is looking. Those investments usually aren’t the sexiest, but typically fall into underappreciated corners of the market.
When it works, investors can cash in big.
If you apply this philosophy to personal development, the same outsized returns can follow.
This skill — learning to focus and lean into what others do not — can accelerate your career growth and make you a linchpin.
Value investing isn’t just for stock brokers and hedge funds. It’s one of the smartest angles you can take to figuring out what skills to learn and where to aim your priorities.
Back to basics
Committing to the basics is both a skill and a general principle, and it can help you stand out in a job and offers you a chance to master a portfolio of transferable skills.
The basics are typically overlooked and under-appreciated because they come off as easy. Things that are so simple that they seem like they’d be second-nature to a good professional (but usually are not).
Some basics that can be applied in most jobs and carried over across various sectors include:
- Microsoft Excel
- Public speaking
- Writing good emails
- Concise communication
- Studying and learning from competitors
- Giving and receiving honest feedback
- Doing what you said you would do (more on this below)
This list can be expanded in various directions depending on what you do.
It’s worth noting that because basics are often overlooked, many people let them slide and don’t practice them, so they end up doing these things poorly.
Reliability is the best ability
Reliability is a skill that doubles as a reputation boost (or snag), and can have an enormous impact on your economic success.
It’s as simple as showing up. We all know that person who no one has to wonder whether they are going to appear at work or in a meeting. They are punctual and engaged.
But we also know individuals who, when timely matters arise, it can be a coin flip whether they show up or complete their end of the bargain.
Reliability, as a skill and a trait, means dependability. That’s something every worker and manager appreciates, and it becomes a habit if you do it often enough. If you can turn reliability into a habit, it becomes a personality trait and earns trust.
And, to develop reliability as a skill, it takes secondary skills like organization, punctuality, and keeping a good calendar. These things, too, make you more marketable and valuable to a team.
Other skills to watch amid ‘quiet quitting’
The viral workplace trend is not inherently wrong or bad, but it signals that job satisfaction may be waning across the board. It also highlights that people who may not like what they do are finally taking action.
I’ve tried to highlight that this action doesn’t have to take the form of deceleration or working less, but instead it can be framed as a portfolio shuffle. If you opt for quiet quitting, fill your newfound time with building transferrable, valuable skills.
Naturally, there are technical skills like computer programming, coding, and learning languages that are more specific but just as transferable. These are great and important, but the aim here was to make it broad enough, conceptually, to apply across sectors while also focusing on mindset.
What skills or ideas am I leaving out of this list? What do you think of the growing popularity behind quiet quitting?
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Graphic by Eva Almqvist, Getty Images; photo by Tim Gouw on Pexels.com
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