Quiet Quitting is out. Bare Minimum Mondays Gone. Quiet Recharging is in.

Quiet Quitting and Bare Minimum Mondays emerged from the post-COVID environment, where people had a taste of flexibility and balance and were asking all sorts of questions about the meaning of work. This ramped up further when organisations tried to mandate a return to the office.

Things have changed. Normality has been restored somewhat. The economy and work environment are less secure, and mass redundancies are back on the agenda.

“Quiet Recharging” is less about people wanting to leave their jobs and more about wanting work to feel doable again. Almost everyone I work with cares deeply about their work. They’re not disengaged or lazy. They’re just exhausted. And no amount of “be more resilient” training is going to fix that.

The summer holidays have a funny way of exposing this. Things slow down just enough. There are fewer meetings. Key decision-makers and bosses are away. There’s a bit of breathing space, and the difference is palpable.

People realise it’s not that they hate working, it’s the relentlessness. It’s the emails and Teams messages that never stop. It’s the expectation of being “on” all the time, even if your boss pops out for golf on a Friday.

And the sad realisation that, despite being away for a wonderful few weeks of sun, the same unresolved workload issues are waiting for them in January. That a holiday doesn’t fix burnout.

Two weeks off doesn’t undo twelve months of chronic overload, constant notifications, back-to-back meetings and blurred boundaries. People might feel better for a few days… and then the system pulls them straight back into stress. That’s because burnout isn’t a holiday problem. It’s a how work is designed problem.

The World Health Organisation defines burnout as: “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
• reduced professional efficacy.”

Quiet recharging isn’t about doing less for the sake of it.

If “Quiet Quitting” was about withdrawing effort, “Quiet Recharging is about restoring capacity, so you can actually show up properly again. It’s about controlling what you can control.

What does that look like in practice?

If you’re back at work and things are still relatively quiet, this is a rare window to do a few useful things before the diary fills up again:

• Block focus time now, not later. That quiet time to get things done will never magically appear. Block out time for the strategic work, the project work, and the stuff on the to-do list that never gets done.
• Be ruthless with your meetings. Shorten meetings by default (do you really need a one-hour meeting as default – or could they be 25 minutes or 50 minutes?) Does it even need to be a meeting? Create time between meetings to think, and time after meetings to actually do the work.
• Stop one “always-on” habit that’s draining you. Do you reach for your phone to check your emails before you even get out of bed? Does your phone ping constantly with Teams and Slack messages- can you turn these off?
• Get super clear on role boundaries and role priorities. Which bits belong to you – and what have you taken on/merged into your role.
• Pay attention to your body. What is it telling you about work? Is it that there’s too much to do? Is it an unresolved conflict? Does it not feel safe? Can you articulate how it feels now? How do you want it to feel, and what is the difference?
• What IS within your control? What is within your influence? If you’re having trouble identifying this, a quick session with your Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can often help you articulate what’s in and what’s out and what that means for you. I have also linked to a Neuro Nudges tool that is incredibly impactful and helpful in separating out the issues.

If you’re still on holiday (even the chaotic, kids-everywhere kind), there’s still some things you can do.

• Pay attention. When you think about work, what are you thinking about? What’s worrying you (if anything)? What’s causing that feeling in the pit of your stomach? What are you least looking forward to (a task/a team dynamic/ a person) and why? What don’t you miss? Where is resentment showing up? What gives you energy and joy and lightness? What are the bright spots in your work?
• Then make one small, specific decision for when you return.