Managers, improve your work/life boundaries
How clear is your work boundary when you are on leave?
Do you switch off, enjoying the benefits of annual leave or are you always “on”? On average, over half of us have blurred boundaries with work when on leave. This affects us mentally, emotionally and physically with ripple effects beyond ourselves. Pushing back against “constantly on” work cultures may seem daunting and not helped by our device addictions. But with burnout becoming so prevalent, it is time for change. Read on for 3 strategies to firm up work boundaries.
How does blurred work/life boundaries affect us?
Being constantly on, reduces how well we recover from the demands of our roles and increases chronic stress. Checking email, WhatsApp or the other multitude of ways we can stay connected with our work and colleagues, out of work keeps our brain in a state of high alert, preventing the psychological detachment necessary to recharge and significantly increasing the risk of burnout. Just think back over the last 48 hours and identify if, when and how often you checked your phone for work communication outside of work hours.
Which of these negative impacts are you feeling right now?
- Decreased Mental Recovery: Prevents the psychological detachment necessary to lower stress hormones like cortisol.
- Elevated Burnout Risk: Prolonged periods of high stress without adequate rest lead to emotional exhaustion and reduced professional efficacy.
- Damaged Work-Life Harmony: Interrupting personal time strains relationships and reduces the restorative benefits of your time off.
- Reduced Overall Productivity: Returning to work unrested significant affects concentration, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.
- Loss of Intrinsic Motivation: Constant attachment to professional responsibilities fosters resentment and decreases job satisfaction.
My last role as an employee was over 10 years ago, before WhatsApp domination. Even so, the only time I recall having absolutely clear boundaries was on maternity leave. Other than that, I regularly checked email and text messages plus actually doing work out of hours. I vividly recall responding to my Director’s request for spreadsheet data whilst on sick leave dealing with a particularly nasty migraine, auras and all. None of this served me one bit. I will share my experiences of all the negative impacts above including severe burnout with you in future posts.
Benefits of clear boundaries between work and the rest of your life
As you would imagine, the benefits of setting clear boundaries during annual leave is the opposite of the previous points. Given the prevalence of blurred boundaries, and potentially debilitating consequences, it’s worth the reminder that clear boundaries protect our mental health, boost post-holiday productivity, and can contribute to burnout prevention. Disconnecting allows us to return to work with higher energy and renewed focus. We need to hear this more – the benefits of clear boundaries are:
- Psychological Detachment: Stepping away completely helps lower stress hormones, allowing our mind to rest and recover.
- Reduces risk of burnout: Consistently unplugging maintains long-term motivation and safeguards against chronic fatigue.
- Boosts Creativity: Time away from daily tasks gives our brain space to process information and develop fresh ideas.
- Respects Personal Time: It reinforces the value of our personal life and allows us to be fully present with family and friends.
- Empowers the Team: Setting boundaries encourages colleagues to problem-solve independently and fosters better delegation.
Who works on annual leave?
Recent studies put the number of people checking in whilst on annual leave at between 48 and 55%. As you would imagine, this includes a higher percentage of senior leaders which creates a ripple effect with over 40% of junior managers following suit.
How did we get here?
Technology and culture. The causes of blurred boundaries have been widely written about with technology usually top of the list, along with an expectation to stay connected firmly embedded within work cultures. Combined with this is a fear of how not always being available will be perceived and concern that disconnecting out of working hours could be career limiting.
How to re-establish boundaries between work and leave
Annual leave is a great opportunity for a reset. Here are three strategies to give a whirl so you can truly be on leave whether you are jetting off or staying home:
Pre-departure prioritisation:
If you are not using the Eisenhower matrix already, apply it in good time before your leave. Focus on your urgent and important tasks before you leave (trust me, not everything in your inbox is both!), delegate the urgent but not important, and park your important but not urgent for when you get back.
Be ruthless with your time. This is my advice for work in general but even more so before taking time off. Only convene and participate in meetings that are essential, so you can focus on the urgent and important.
Culture nudge:
Contract clearly with your people – your team, your peers, your line manager.
Communicate that you will be incommunicado as you are prioritising R&R and agree on a communication process in case your team need extra input. Their first option should be your line manager. If this is impractical, partner up with a peer and be the emergency contact for one another’s teams. Clarity with your team on what constitutes an emergency is also key. You know you have a great team – they will be just fine!
Unplug from the matrix:
Remove work email from your phone. Radical to some, downright sensible to others. Remove the temptation to “check in”. Old school communications processes are: if something isn’t urgent send an email, if slightly more urgent a text message is appropriate, and only if it is life and death, call. So, your email isn’t needed. If the wheels have come off and you are the only person who can fix the situation, your people will call. Or not, as you have contracted beautifully for them to call your proxy instead.
Annual leave is precious. Cherish it. Make it count. Rest. Have fun.
If you have nailed this and have crystal clear boundaries, what strategies work for you?
If you need support to improve your work boundaries, let’s talk.