300823_ Lazy Girl Jobs_ Is This How Work-Life Balance Looks Like_

Lazy Girl Jobs: Is This What Work-Life Balance Looks Like?

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30 Aug 2023

Are you dragging yourself to work?

Regardless of how long you’ve been working, you would’ve somehow come across the terms, ‘Great Resignation’ and ‘Quiet Quitting’.

These are trends that point to one thing – an overworked workforce and employees are tired of not having a healthy work-life balance. These movements prompted a significant wave of job departures, and a discreet attempt by employees to express that they’re maxed out by not taking the initiatives and opportunities in favour of doing the bare minimum.

Simply put, it seems like we’ve all grown tired of the daily grind.

And what’s the latest trend that’s up and against the hustle culture? Lazy Girl Jobs.

Unlike what its name is, the Lazy Girl Job is anything but lazy. It’s targeted specifically at achieving a healthy work-life balance, having plenty of flexibility while working, and lastly and most importantly, a good salary.

Find out more below!

TL;DR: Are Lazy Girl Jobs What Work-Life Balance Looks Like?

The Lazy Girl Job trend is a trend that went viral on TikTok. It’s about making a conscious decision to avoid overwork and prioritise health and mental well-being, all while having job security and a decent paycheck.

Click here to jump:

What is a Lazy Girl Job?
Why should you choose a Lazy Girl Job?
How to get a Lazy Girl Job?
Burnout and mental health – Is the pay worth it?

What Is a Lazy Girl Job

Contrary to its name, “Lazy Girl Job” does not mean that the person carrying out the role is lazy.

The trend was started by a TikTok user Gabrielle Judge, who first broached the concept of how she has – a low-stress, fully remote job and a salary that helps her pay bills.

She’s meant to highlight and raise awareness about burnout at work, prioritising mental health and physical well-being, and advocating for genuine living as a daily practice, rather than restricting it to weekends, days off, or a distant future aspiration.

On TikTok, the term has garnered nearly 18 million views, with videos frequently depicting women at their keyboards. These videos feature overlaid text highlighting the benefits they experience, such as having a hands-off manager and a flexible schedule that allows for midday dog walks.

Lazy Girl Job Is Not Lazy At All

Contrary to what you think, the label “Lazy Girl Job” is satirical. It’s coined as such because we’ve been so used to overworking that when we’re taking on a reasonable workload at our jobs, we can sometimes appear somewhat, well, lazy.

Similar to the concept of quiet quitting that came before it, “Lazy Girl Job” represents the newest manifestation of individuals in their 20s and 30s, regardless of gender, redefining the blurred boundary between personal life and work post-pandemic.

“This job should be paying your bills and have so much work-life balance that you should feel as [if] you’re almost operating in a lazy state…Everything that I’m talking about here is considered lazy if you compare it to the toxic corporate workplace expectations… I try to treat the lazy girl job trend as a mindset, too, because jobs are so nuanced, and everyone’s in a different situation.
– TikTok user, Gabrielle Judge

If you’re still unsure of this concept, a Lazy Girl Job kinda looks like this:

Your job does not have long shifts, arduous commutes or dangerous working conditions;
Tasks that aren’t particularly strenuous (emails, mostly);
You get to enjoy working 100 per cent remotely or hybrid-friendly;
A “comfortable” salary;
A healthy work-life balance.

Even though the name specifically said ‘Girl’, it’s actually a concept that’s applicable to everyone. It was inspired by a long line of girl-themed trends, such as ‘Girl Boss’.

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Why Choose a Lazy Girl Job

Disclaimer: I’m not telling you to choose a Lazy Girl Job.

We’ve talked about “Lazy Girl Job” being a concept, but we have not talked about why it has garnered so many supporters.

Most Millenials and Gen-Xers would’ve had their share of being told to ‘Work hard, don’t complain’, and this advice is commonly attributed to the influence of our parents or grandparents who lived during times when survival was a significant challenge, and could have inevitably bred what we called, an ‘overworking’ culture.

But times have changed, and this generation of Gen-Xers, Millenials, and Gen-Zs are facing wars, economic crises and inflation, and are living in a post-pandemic era where mental health is of top concern.

COVID-19 has brought about a lot of workplace changes and has severely impacted our mental, physical and emotional well-being, which made individuals start questioning the meaning of life, their quality of life and whether they are happy.

Proponents of this concept argue that this concept helps them to reassess the significance of work within the broader scope of life, and then question whether the effort invested is justified — and it’s not hard to see why.

There’s nothing really ‘lazy’ with people just doing what their job description entails, and no longer wanting to tolerate or perpetuate an “overworking” culture. That said, if you’re constantly overworking, it’s one of the signs of a toxic work environment.

How to Get a Lazy Girl Job

It is unsurprising to see new content on the internet talking about how to get a job that’s considered a Lazy Girl Job.

In fact, some jobs would’ve already been considered one.

These are some criteria you can use for your job search for a Lazy Girl Job:

Flexible arrangement: Remote or Hybrid
Desk-bound
Decent pay
Undemanding types of jobs e.g. minimal reporting to manager
May or may not have hard and rushed deadlines

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Pros and Cons of a Lazy Girl Job

Burnout and Mental Health, Is It Worth It?

Earlier we briefly talked about The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, these are trends that we’ve spotted among workers in Singapore over the last one to two years.

According to a 2022 study by workspace innovation company, The Instant Group, employees in Singapore are clocking about 45 hours per week, and Singapore is named the most overworked country in the Asia Pacific Region.

In the same year, Mercer’s Global Talent Trends Study found that four in five Singaporeans are at risk of burning out.

While doing my research, I found a TikTok video of Presidential hopeful, Tharman Shanmugaratnam responding to a query on work demands and stresses Singaporeans are going through, particularly catchy:

“We need to be more open about it at the workplace, you need more enlightened workplace top management and culture… I think our work hours are a bit too long”

We’ve witnessed highly-paid workers leaving successful careers to do something they find meaning in, and how job hoppers quit for needing more control over working hours, career progression or better managers.

Money can buy material happiness, and by extension, experiences that you can’t get without money. But not everything can be purchased with money, especially relationships, time and dreams.

The “Lazy Girl Job” trend therefore emphasises a sustainable understanding of maintaining a work-life balance and establishing limits on the extent to which you’re willing to prioritise your career over your mental and physical well-being.

Hard Work ≠ Burnout

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you don’t have to work hard and just do what your job descriptions say only. In fact, I think we ought to redefine what is considered ‘hard work’ because hard work does not mean burnout.

You can genuinely enjoy your job, put in many hours within working hours, excel in your position, contribute positively to your company, achieve your career objectives, and still maintain a regular work schedule.

It’s not a matter of choosing between extremes — it’s not about burnout versus laziness.

If your current job leaves you feeling drained, overwhelmed, disheartened, unenthusiastic, and lacking motivation, it’s wise to explore new opportunities.

However, this doesn’t mean opting for a role that’s excessively “easy” to the point of being genuinely unproductive.

Lazy Girl Job: It’s Not All Rainbows And Butterflies

We know that a ‘Lazy Girl Job’ has its benefits, but there are risks too.

When we spend most of our time doing a mundane job, we might experience low job satisfaction. Going through the motions simply feels like checking things off without challenges, skills development, and by extension, we risk our personal development.

Another argument that’s against a Lazy Girl Job is that when we live in a capitalist system, you will have to compete with the rest of your peers to stand out. And sometimes, this means going ‘above and beyond’.

That’s not to say you can’t do well within your work hours, but employers may feel frustrated if they can’t reach out after work hours over an urgent matter.

We know that climbing the ladder is also about reputation and impression, and we can’t deny that some companies are still measuring employees based on the standard of working beyond working hours.

Just based on personal experiences alone, I’ve heard countless stories of how employers expect employees to respond to non-urgent texts over the weekends.

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Closing Thoughts

It’s not feasible to abandon jobs for pursuits focused solely on leisure especially when our cost of living is high. But we can tell that the resistance against excessive work has found its expression on social media.

No doubt, this trend has opened my eyes to viewing work-life balance and what’s important.

My personal take is that it’s not about which generation prioritising something over another, but about the overall mindset shift on a line that should not be overstepped i.e. employers expecting you to continue working even after work hours just because they ‘have been through it’.

After all, our jobs do not define us.

Time is precious and we spend a significant portion of it engaged in work. When the day comes to a close, it becomes imperative to introspect and question what truly holds value in our lives.

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