How to Fight the "Infinite Workday"
Time zones, WFH, and a few questionable habits later… we’ve officially blurred the line between work and life.
Spoiler alert: no one’s coming to fix it but us.
Still answering “just one last email” by glow of a fridge light? Yeah… it’s time we talked boundaries.
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Ever close your laptop after a long day only to wake up and find 78 unread emails waiting for you. Yeah, me too. Welcome to the era of the infinite workday, where work never really stops, and neither do the notifications.
Microsoft's research actually shows that many of us are checking emails before 6 o'clock in the morning and as late as 10:00 PM... even on the weekends! The average employee actually sends over 50 emails outside of core working hours.
Why is this Why is this happening? Well, time zones, working from home, and our own murky habits are blurring the line between work and life. Meetings after 8:00 PM are actually up 16% year over year.
But here's the truth. We are all part of the problem and we are all part of the solution. We can't blame just our culture or tech. We have to take responsibility in how we are boundary-setting for our life and our work.
Here are a few suggestions to reclaim your personal time.
Set clear "do not disturb" blocks on your calendar to protect your ideal focus time and turn off notifications after hours. In fact, I have them off all of the time.
Avoid sending or responding to emails once the workday ends.
Finally use time blocking to ensure meetings don't eat your peak productivity hours.
The infinite workday is exhausting, but we can all fight back one boundary at a time. So tell me, and let's share some strategies in the comments. How are you protecting your work life integration these days?
