Hello and welcome to Today at Work. If you’ve ever worn burnout like a badge of honor, you’re not alone. In a new Fast Company article, one writer reflects on her twenties, when “my identity was stitched to my output,” answering emails at 11 p.m. and treating every ping like an emergency. Parenthood forced her to break that invisible contract and start living out loud.

She calls it “loud living”—not doing less, but showing up better, with boundaries that aren’t padded with apologies. She stopped apologizing for logging off at 6 p.m., swapped vague “busy” calendar blocks for “deep work” and “school pickup,” and even used out-of-office replies for sick days at home. She asks herself and her team tough questions like, “What do you never want to miss?” and practices saying no without saying sorry.

Loud living means redefining success on your own terms, protecting time for what matters, and modeling a healthier way to mix life and work. It’s ambition that doesn’t cost you everything else.
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