Good morning, my chronically employed friend. This week in the make work suck less group chat...

👏 One good thing. Crowd-sourcing this week's One Good Thing. Who's got some great news (either personal or in the world of work) to share with the group chat? Sound off.

📮State of the business. Between 40-51% of people want to quit their jobs. They're either looking for a new role, or feel stuck in place with the stagnant job market (Gallup, Forbes, World Economic Forum). So what do you do if you're stuck in a place that sucks (for you, at least) for the foreseeable future, and not lose your damn mind?

I'll tell you what I did. Quiet quit.

🏆 Define what your new version of success looks like. You've decided you don't want to be there long-term. You've stepped off the ladder. You're not getting promoted. And if you've spent your whole life going above and beyond to get the grades and accolades, it can take some getting used to. Laying off the throttle and being ok with it.

📍 Pinpoint exactly what about your job sucks. Is it leadership, a coworker, a specific policy, or the fact that you've become the de facto party planner? Actively pull back from that thing(s) as much as possible.

❌ Do your job and nothing else. Do not volunteer for anything. No stretch projects. No office forced fun. Stop covering for that coworker who can't figure anything out for themselves. Show up on time and leave on time. Don't read or respond to any after-hours messages. Use your PTO - all of it. Still do good work, but that's it.

👾 Malicious compliance. Follow the letter of - not the spirit of - any bull💩 policy. RTO was mine. You need me to badge in x number of times in an 8 week period to stay off the naughty list. Okie doke. I will do exactly that. You've been told you're not allowed to work from home at all? Ok, don't. Leave that laptop at work.

♥️ Add what's missing. I loved the way the team over at Per My Last Email framed it: build a resilient identity. YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB. Find things that bring you job. Rediscover old hobbies. Build community. Volunteer. Start a side gig. Spend time with family. Read. Whatever it is that your job has sucked out of your life. Reclaim that shit.

All of this about redefining your relationship with work. You're unwinding your identity from your job, title, company, tenure, retirement package - all of it. At the end of the day, these things are not the story of who you are. You get to actively decide the kind of life you want to build in the future. And in the meantime, collect a paycheck.

A note about quiet quitting before we go about our day. If you've been following me for any amount of time, you'll know how much I loathe the phrase. Here are some alt titles I considered:

1. How to disengage and keep your job (until you don't need it anymore)
2. How to disconnect your identity from your job
3. How to treat your job like it treats you
4. How to care less at work
5. How to coast at work

💬 Coffee break gossip. Some news to share over an iced Dunkin coffee this week:

1. This week, I'm celebrating Paulina Mangubat for excelling in her role. And congrats on the engagement, girl!
2. Did you know, 1 in 5 CEOs is a psychopath? Or at least has psychopathic traits. 20% of executives compared to just 1% of the general population. Something to think about.
3. Your AI voice assistant can get hacked by sounds (inaudible to humans) through podcasts, music, and zoom calls.

Do me a favor - if you enjoyed this Saturday morning drop in your inbox, forward it to a few friends.

Until next Saturday, you got this.
Cassandra

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