Mention casually cancel an appointment with the doctor or omit something personal to assume more work has become the new Humblebrag. It is rarely treated as a big problem, often, it is delivered with self -healthy pride: “Oh, I can only make my doctor’s appointment to produce this,” or I got up until midnight ending that deck. “These are not only updates, but quiet auditions for” more dedicated employee. “
Many of us listen to those lines, or say them ourselves, and we think: “wow, that’s the commitment.” But what we are really doing is strengthening the culture of the workplace that rewards exhaustion instead of the impact. Too often, personal sacrifice is confused with value, and that mentality is burning people.
The result is the exhaustion factories dressed as high performance cultures.
And this is not just anecdotal. According to Gallup 2023 State of the global workplace Report, almost 60% of employees report feeling emotionally separated at work, and almost 1 in 5 says they are miserable. That is not high performance, it is a slow and silent collapse.
If you want to appear with the approach, creativity and resilience (at work and in life) it begins leaving the invisible sword that many of us continue to fall. This is how it looks in practice:
1. Stop glorifying sacrifice
We have conditioned the leg to admire the person who “pushes”, the one who jumps lunch, works late or appears sick. We have equated an overexension with excellence and we decided to make dedication perpetually available and make us irreplaceable. But this constant routine is not sustainable, and it is not a bubble buster, but it also does not guarantee job security. However, it guarantees exhaustion.
In a culture of exhaustion disguised as impulse, the truth is not a chicken out loud is that only because some are willing to sacrifice everything for work does not mean that they should be expected, or applaud for it.
What you can do: Meach the limits out loud. Tell your team when you are starting session and why. Complement of co -workers who prioritize recovery. Make self-conservation visible, respected and routine. Someone who “takes one for the team” is not always the hero, and we must stop making them. The most important thing, we must stop strengthening bad behavior.
2. Redefine loyalty
Too many of us equate the loyalty with the abandonment of itself. We constantly confuse being constantly “in” for being reliable. But true loyalty is not about erase itself, but to present itself consistently and sustainably.
Loyalty to your work should not reach the expense of loyalty to your body, your family, your health or your own values. People who build long and significant careers are not those who run from sacrifice to sacrifice. They are the ones who understand how to accelerate and advocate what they need.
What you can do: Before saying yes to add more to your work plate, ask yourself: Does this align with my real priorities and capacity? Because it is possible to be deeply committed to their work without constantly testing your overextension.
3. Emergency culture question
So many “fire drills” at work are fair. . . Smoke. The tasks labeled as urgent are often due to the disorporation, perfectionism or anxiety of another person, not a real need. When everything is urgent, nothing is really. The emergency culture thrives in environments where people are afraid to reduce speed or challenge assumptions. But what would happen if part of Bee, a great teammate, was not speed, was a discernment?
What you can do: Practice pausar to ask: What is the real deadline here? What is the consequence if it moves? Normalize not the “as soon as possible” bar to nominal value. Sometimes urgency is justified. Often, it is just a default configuration that we have forgotten how to question.
4. Commercial perfectionism for progress
As a perfectionist in recovery, I can attest to the fact that perfectionism is cunning. Diligence and high standards disguise himself, but more than not, it is a real fear in a super sharp blazer. Fear of Judms, failure or not being good enough.
In high pressure work cultures, perfectionism is not only tolerated, it is celebrated. But if you are spending hours by adjusting the slide format or rewriting a perfectly clear email for the fourth time, it may be time for himself to ask himself who is really Trypy Thypy to protect. Perfection rarely drives the impact, but always drains energy.
What you can do: Choose one thing this week to do at 85%. Then get away. The deck does not need a more alignment verification. Email is fine as it is. Let it “good enough” be good and claim that energy for something else.
5. Be the example, not the exception
It is easy to think that change at the top. But culture is not only established by leadership, it is formed by what we tolerate, model and reinforce at all levels. If you are tired of performative exhaustion, you cannot simply choose to leave in silence. You have to opt for something different.
Culture changes through visible elections. Through the senior leader who leaves aloud at 5 pm to the teammate that says: “I am not available tonight, but I can jump early tomorrow”, to the employee who takes an apology on mental health day.
What you can do: Audit your behavior. Are you constantly delivery? Do you rewards fire drills and penalize slow and reflective work? Start showing people how sustainable excellence looks. In a nutshell: does not need a policy change to be a cultural change lever.
The workplace is changing slowly but significantly. And, changes in the thesis not only happen because HR implies a new initiative, but when sufficient people, at all levels, stop exhausting as an commitment proof.
Then, the next time the reflection enters, the one who tells him to pushing, to cancel some, to deliver only to be seen, put. Ask yourself: Is this really necessary? You must have to win your tremano through exhaustion, and it is allowed to take care of yourself and still be exceptional. In fact, that could be the most powerful you can do.