The Real Cost of 'Always Being On’: What's at Stake in 2025?
Picture this: it’s 5pm on 23rd December, you close your laptop, your notebook and you put all your work stuff away. You’re done for a week. You’re looking forward to the Christmas’ Eve walk & snuggling up on the sofa with a Christmas film. It’ll be an early start on Christmas Day for the stockings to be open, and the day will whizz by in a blur of food, wrapping paper and drinks. You’ll spend the rest of the week with loved ones, enjoying this opportunity to rest, reflect & re-energise yourself.
How realistic is this picture?
Is it more likely that you’ll be working late on the 23rd? Sneaking peeks at your email throughout the 24th, your mind wandering to work on the 25th? A ‘quick’ phone call you have to take on the 26th. Fingers itching on the 27th; if you could just get ahead, maybe next Christmas would be different.
But will having one foot in work when you’re meant to be on leave really make things any easier, or is it creating a self-fulfilling cycle of overwork which is ultimately impacting on you, your work and the organisation?
Hidden Personal Costs
It was a slippery slope to this point where you’re always available, you wanted to make sure your teams were never alone, felt unsupported and there was always more for you to do. But somehow now, you’re not just tired, but you’re noticing how what once felt like little impositions, are now having a bigger and bigger impact..
Your health
When you’re always on, always available you’re not letting your body rest, you’re more than likely not eating or sleeping properly either. Working in this way is going to increase your risk of physical burnout, and the associated health risks including frequent illnesses due to a lowered immune system, stomach problems, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Your Relationships
Always being on doesn’t mean that you’re glued to your laptop or phone, it might mean that you’re distracted and missing out on what is in front of you, you’re physically there, but you’re not with them. You may be short tempered & snappy and feeling like your loved ones aren’t getting the best of you.
Missed opportunities
Always being on does sometimes mean you aren’t present. How often has a piece of work been so urgent that it can’t wait, til tomorrow, til Monday. Honestly, what have you cancelled because work couldn’t wait. Here’s the tough question, when you look back on life, what are you going to regret – not getting the board report done or missing time with your friends, partner or kids. (I know the report is important, but is it more important than your precious time?)
Professional Price Tag
But being always on doesn’t just impact on your life outside of work, it has significant implications for you at work too.
Quality of decision making
When you’re constantly on, your efficiency and effectiveness is bound to take a hit. Your ability to think quickly, reflect, find new perspectives and problem solve is going to be affected. If you’re always on, you’re going to find yourself thinking reactively, trying to manage the next crisis that’s thrown at you.
Team dependency
I know you’re not planning on staying in this job forever, at some point a new opportunity will tempt you, or it will be time for a mid-career gap year, or perhaps you’re thinking about retirement. If you’re holding everything, doing everything how are you preparing for succession planning. But more than that, how are you developing your teams? I know it’s easier to just do it than show them, I know you’re trying to protect them from over working, but what if they’re ready for more? More responsibility, more opportunities. Instead, I bet they’re doing what you’re doing, holding it all, ‘protecting their teams’ and are always on too, because they see that’s what you do.
Strategic planning
By constantly doing, you’re not giving yourself any time for measuring progress, strategic planning and looking at the bigger perspective. Our best thinking will often happen when we’re not chained to our desks, when it has the space to work away in the background and make the connections it needs to. Instead of keeping your head down and doing, is it time to lift your gaze and see how far you’ve come?
New Year, New Approach.
What do you want 2025 to be? The year your charity moves a step closes to achieving the strategy, a year you really find a workable balance between work and life, a year you stop saying next year, and finally do the things you’ve been wanting to do for ages.
Draw your lines in the sand
In an ideal world I’d love it if every charity worker, at every level could finish their day on time, and switch off. I know this isn’t realistic or practical for many; there will be times working late happens, where you do want to be available. So instead of promising yourself it’ll never happen, let’s get clear on your non-negotiables, and make it the exception not the rule. Average charity leader works an extra 10 hours a week, do you want that to be true in 2025? What else could you do with 10 hours?
Plan your time
Make sure you have blocks of time for planning, reflection, rest and recharging, both at work and at home. I know it can feel counter-intuitive, you feel by working through you’ll get more done, but moving away from your desk, thinking about things other than work will help you get more done.
Ask for support
Being a leader is lonely; you’re surrounded by people, but it can feel like you have no one to lean on. Get clear about what support you need from the board or your line manager (and get time booked in). Build your support network – who are your peers you can have honest conversations with (and who will help you see different perspectives). What can you delegate to team members.
Communicate
Be clear about what others can expect from you, when you’re available, and any protected time in your calendar – so if they are calling you know it’s something urgent.
What does success look like?
Create goals for what work looks like in 2025, what your priorities are when you’re there, what others need to do to support this & plan time to review these, check how you’re getting on with them. Even more importantly, what do you want to achieve personally in 2025? Being clear about what is important outside of work means that you have a reason not to always be on!
Breaking the cycle of always being on, always being available can feel impossible, but it’s not impossible.
And if you want to make sure you’re not on all Christmas, do these 4 things now
On a Sunday evening decide what your personal non-negotiables for the week ahead are (your run, dinner with the kids, an evening with friends). Diarise them.
Use the first & last 30 minutes of your workday to plan. First thing - what must be done today, what needs protected time, and what can be delegated or let go of? Last thing – what have you achieved today & what are tomorrow’s priorities?
Tell colleagues when you are available and unavailable, stick to it.
Create a switch off ritual to help you leave work at work.
If you need help to make sure you’re not always on in 2025 book a call to find out how I can help.