Boundaries I Encourage at BookEnds

The buzz on the street is quiet quitting. Well, it was when I wrote this; by the time we publish it could be something completely different. Quiet quitting, in my mind, really has nothing to do with quitting and everything to do with setting boundaries. Something I strongly encourage (push) at BookEnds all the time.

I really, really like the people I work with. I’m rooting for their success daily and see how hard they work. It’s why I’ve always preached boundaries. And yes, I think preach is a fair word here because I suspect they’re super sick of hearing about it.

Boundaries are critical to success. Not having good boundaries leads to exhaustion, burnout, and eventually loud quitting (real quitting). Not something I want for the people at BookEnds. So over the years I’ve encouraged and enforced some very real boundaries. They don’t always listen, but I try.

BookEnds Boundaries

Here are some of the things I ask of my agents as a way to protect themselves and, honestly, make their lives easier.

• Take real vacations—no work, no email, no computers. If I could I would force 2-3 week vacations, but we’re not there yet. We all need time to recharge, but also enjoy the life we’re working so hard for. Vacations can be staycations, the point is no work.

• Weekends are yours—how you choose to work (your hours) are up to you, but everyone deserves a weekend of sorts to, again, recharge and rest. I know from personal experience that every check into email or even Twitter pulls you away from the time you need for yourself, friends and family. One quick glance at email on a Saturday can derail my entire day. It’s not fair to anyone—me, my family, or even the client who now gets a frantic response instead of the thoughtful one I could have sent on Monday.

• Work is not your life, it is the means to your life—in other words, enjoy your life because work isn’t it. There is no reason anyone should be working 24/7.

• No texting or DMing clients—stick to email and phone. This goes to protect private space. If I’m receiving texts at all hours from clients or editors I’m struggling to find my personal time. But also, I’m struggling to track all the conversations and details I need to be a successful agent. Keeping everything in one or two buckets (email and phone) gives us a place to track, especially when and if we need to go back to something or need a receipt. And promise me, at some point we’ll need a receipt. Email folders make that easy.

• Mental health is health. There are days when we just can’t do it. Faking it is never the answer. Shut down, and go away. Read a book, take a walk, but there’s no reason to force through something. Tomorrow is another day.

I strongly believe that I’m a better agent now that I have stronger boundaries. When I was young and new I thought I had to be there for everyone before I was there for myself. I checked email 24/7 and I was anxious 24/7. Honestly, I wasn’t my best because I didn’t have rest. I’ll leave it there because I good (bad) rhyme is everything.

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