Being dedicated to your job is a great way to move up the proverbial corporate ladder, but being too dedicated can quickly erode your mental health and happiness. Unhealthy work boundaries can turn an 8-hour day into a much longer one, preventing you from properly resting and recovering between shifts. Establishing healthy workplace boundaries is an excellent tactic for improving personal success and well-being.
The Culture of Constant Availability and Its Mental Health Toll
A 2022 Report from the Office of the Surgeon General notes that America’s workforce consists of more than 160 million people, just shy of half of the country’s 340 million residents. That’s a significant amount of the population dealing with potential burnout from the combined stress of long workdays, commuting and work questions creeping into personal time.
In fact, the Department of Labor notes that 120,000 deaths per year are attributed to workplace stress. For office workers, one of the largest contributing factors is constant digital connectivity — the chorus of dings, beeps and push notifications from familiar apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. These tools may be useful during work hours, but if they don’t clock out when their users do, they can quickly become a pain point.
Signs You’re Experiencing Burnout or Work-Induced Anxiety
Being less than enthused about heading to work isn’t a new phenomenon, but in the age of smartphones and laptops, it’s given rise to its own lingo: the Mondays, the Sunday scaries or the Sunday blues. Those struggling with this issue describe it as a whole-body dread or anxiety — a near-inability to enjoy activities on Sunday knowing that Monday lurks just around the corner. If the sound of email notifications or online message indicators sends your blood pressure skyrocketing, you may be cruising toward burnout.
If you aren’t sleeping well or feel like you can’t “turn your brain off” when it comes to job worries, it’s definitely time to research how to set boundaries at work. In order to properly reset your mind and recover your energy after a long day at work, you need time away from it. That includes a real break from stressing about work problems and projects.
The Importance of Setting Clear Work-Life Boundaries
Creative freelancers have a term for work that constantly escapes its own boundaries: scope creep. This menace isn’t restricted to creative work alone, though; it happens in almost every job and industry. The best way to avoid seeing hours and responsibilities stretch beyond containment is to clearly define your role, expectations and capacity. Here are some follow-up responses that can help stop unhealthy work boundaries from forming:
- “Can you do X task?” As long as it doesn’t interfere with my already assigned work.
- “Can you stay late to do X task?” I’m leaving by X time, but I’m happy to work on it before that.
- “Can you work through lunch?” I need that time to myself, but I’ll be back in my office at X time.
- “Can you call/email/check X task at home?” No, I’m not able to work off the clock.
How to Communicate Boundaries With Employers or Clients
The best way to avoid burnout is to head it off at the pass with clear definitions. Determine which hours work for your lifestyle and explain in initial interviews and emails that you’re not available before or after those times.
Make sure you don’t break your own rules. If you answer one email at 2 in the morning, you’re communicating to that employer or client that your boundaries are flexible.
Always use email or text messaging versus verbal agreements when possible. It’s easier to defend your time off with a paper trail.
If course correction becomes necessary well into a work relationship, don’t soften or couch it. State it as fact or else you’ll be complicit in creating your own unhealthy work boundaries. You deserve to have time off — in fact, you need it for mental and physical health reasons.
Strategies for Unplugging When You Work From Home or Are Self-Employed
Being constantly connected is great for efficiency … at first. As those aforementioned beeps and dings start elbowing between notifications from friends and loved ones, all notifications can become stressful. Whenever possible, leave work at work: Establish a work-only cell phone and laptop, log out of work email programs and give yourself permission not to check on things when you aren’t on the clock.
Removing constant exposure to work and access to yourself helps combat the temptation to peek into a project on the weekend or answer a few stray emails in the evenings. Remember, if you aren’t able to consistently finish your work within working hours, that likely means your job comes with some unrealistic expectations.
Building a Healthier Relationship With Work
The World Health Organization considers burnout a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanageable workplace stress, but it’s also very sneaky. It’s not something that happens all at once, which means preventing it has to happen gradually too. Start by leaving behind devices that your employer uses to communicate with you after hours. Take your lunch breaks consistently and avoid working through them. Work hard during your workday, but be just as dedicated to relaxing and having fun while outside of work hours.
Essentially, your job should be similar to spending time with an acquaintance: planned, as enjoyable as possible but over when it’s over. This will help you feel more energized and focused at your job and less resentful over time — a win for both sides of the equation.
If you find yourself having trouble with work-life balance and need professional guidance, our caring team of counselors is available 24-7 to assist you. Contact FHE Health today for support while establishing and maintaining your healthy workplace boundaries.
