Queen Bey has the right idea but it’s the wrong time to quit
BEYONCÉ got our hopes up this summer. In her high-spirited pop anthem Break My Soul, she hinted that times were changing. The woman who once marvelled in her hit Girls at how women could have it all – being ‘strong enough to bear their children, then get back to business’ was on a slightly different roll this time around.
‘I just fell in love... And I just quit my job,’ she declares in her most successful solo single since 2008. This announcement seemed to signal the end of ‘grind culture’ – the idea that status is achieved by always being on and available – for Queen Bey. And if the hugely successful and influential Beyoncé calls it, it must be true.
In fairness to Bey, below, she was simply articulating (in her coloratura mezzo-soprano way) what the rest of the world was feeling. We had learnt life lessons during the pandemic, which forced the world to change the way it worked – specifically in the workplace.
Globally, a deep unhappiness that people had with the frenzied pace of life was unmasked, as the realisation dawned that we didn’t have to be chained to office desks from nine to five every day.
We could work smarter, with employers and employees finally realising that extensive hours did not necessarily equate to optimum productivity. Working from home, which may have started as a temporary aberration in a desperate response to keep the world of work turning, became the new normal.
All of the things that we didn’t dare to dream about – four-day weeks, flexibility, a more understanding corporate culture – began to happen in this global work reset. And it had a profound affect on us.
We started to reassess our priorities and values. The ferocious first wave of the pandemic was a reminder of the preciousness and the fragility of life. Family became everything. Parents saw their children. The world became more mindful of the simpler things, as the frills were stripped away. We had no choice but to slow down and take stock. For lots of people, this brought a myriad of revelations about the most important aspects of their lives – their time, relationships and mental health.
A revolution was happening for both men and women in the world of work. For women like myself, who for so long had been urged to work relentlessly, some to the point of burnout, in a quest to ‘have it all’, the penny began to drop.
Who wants it all? And if you finally get ‘it’ – the family, the nice house, the highpowered job – what price did you have to pay? The pandemic highlighted just how much of the lion’s share of domestic work we do, the childcare, the worrying about everyone else, and that’s before we even think about paying the bills. Where was the ‘me’ time, the downtime, the stuff that brought contentment and peace?
Something had to give. The definition of success had shifted. We were tired, so tired. What was it all about anyway? The pandemic had highlighted the impermanence of everything, money and power included. Who wanted to work to the bone anymore?
THIS letting go of attachment to old ambition, to the continual scaling of the corporate ladder, may be the reason the phenomenon of ‘quiet quitting’ is doing the rounds on TikTok. It doesn’t actually involve following Beyoncé’s advice and resigning (by the way, she hasn’t either). It’s doing your job, during your work hours, but not one minute more. It means not checking your emails or ruminating over work at bedtime. It’s a reminder not to sacrifice your soul over a salary. However, while the concept of reclaiming personal lives is sound, I wouldn’t recommend uploading a smug TikTok video of a laptop being snapped shut at 4.59pm, especially if you are hoping for some career advancement. Mutual flexibility seems like a healthy goal to strive for. But back to Beyoncé. Unfortunately, you see, while her predilection for a less work-focused, more peaceful life is all well and good if you’re a global superstar, in the lay person’s post-pandemic world, it’s difficult to master. We may have been on the cusp of achieving that elusive work/life balance but global circumstances has meant we have retreated in our progression for less stress and more joy.
The cost-of-living crisis is deepening and we are facing a winter of discontent. It’s difficult to think of emancipation when you’re worrying about how you’re going to heat your home or put food on the table.
Don’t get me wrong, Beyoncé was onto something, as evidenced by most companies deciding to continue with the hybrid working model. A mindset change has happened. Right now, most of us are too busy or anxious to fully embrace it. The hustle continues...