Is this a familiar scenario?

• You’re working late, and answering emails at night and during weekends.
• Everyone around you is doing the same.
• You’re worried that if you stop responding to demands outside of office hours, you’ll be considered a slacker.
• You think that asking people to respect your boundaries will result in a backlash – lack of promotion, or worse.

This is a really common situation in our ‘always on’ work culture, where everyone can contact us through multiple channels, on a device that’s always in our hands.

Take a moment to ask yourself:

• If this continues how likely it is that you’ll burnout, or leave your job?
• If your manager knew that, do you think they would allow it to continue?
• What are you assuming about your colleagues’ experience? Could they be feeling exactly the same way?
• What if you were the one to finally break the cycle?

I would like to share with you what one of my brave clients did last week. She asked for what she wanted .

I KNOW, RIGHT!!

Rather than continuing to only just manage, she decided to do something about it.

✅ She handled it brilliantly, presenting her line manager with the solution, not just the problem. All that was needed was a few simple tweaks to how, and when they all communicate.

✅ She presented the benefits, not just the features of her plan: better productivity, more positivity and motivation; improved mental wellbeing; more time and energy for her team.

✅ She explained how she would like to set a positive example for her team to improve the overall working culture.

✅ My client stated, without negotiation, that she will be turning her phone off when she goes to bed and at weekends.

Her line manager was completely supportive and even praised her for taking action.

The changes have already taken effect and the impact has been amazing. Everyone has healthier boundaries. My client feels that she’s earned more respect as a direct result of having this difficult conversation.

Think about your own boundaries. What difficult conversations do you need to have to protect them? Because, what’s the alternative?