If you feel like maintaining a healthy work-life balance has become harder, you’re not alone.
According to a survey of 748 Canadians conducted by Maru Public Opinion on behalf of ADP Canada, 34 per cent of workers are struggling to set boundaries between their personal and professional lives. As a result, 32 per cent feel tired or overworked.
“That line really blurred during the pandemic, and as a lot of us are returning to the office we need to re-learn how to manage the whole work-life balance thing,” said Ed Yuen, ADP Canada’s vice-president of strategy and HR outsourcing.
Remote and hybrid work can be a “double-edged sword” when it comes to work-life balance, according to Mr. Yuen. While the added flexibility enables workers to better manage life responsibilities – like picking up kids from school or going to a dentist appointment during the day – it also comes with greater pressure to stay tethered to work after hours. “We’ve all been trained to respond to e-mails at all hours of the day, beyond the typical nine-to-five,” he said.
According to the survey, 23 per cent of Canadians are working longer hours on a regular basis, and that proportion nearly doubles to 43 per cent among those aged 18 to 34. Adding to that pressure, according to Mr. Yuen, is a historically tight labour market that has left employers with a high number of vacancies, causing many to demand more from existing staff.
“In the interim, the existing employees are in higher demand and that’s one of the causes of this burnout,” he said. “Employees do feel an adverse mental health impact due to longer working hours and due to lack of boundaries.”
Mr. Yuen said when workers are unable to set clear boundaries between work and life, they are more prone to absenteeism and turnover, which only exacerbates ongoing staffing challenges for employers. While many organizations are working to address the problem, data suggests their efforts aren’t being widely felt.
According to an Angus Reid survey of more than 1,000 employees and 500 employers conducted on behalf of Cisco Canada in December, 63 per cent of Canadian employers say they have implemented new benefits such as salary increases, improved mental health benefits, and more days off. At the same time, only 36 per cent of employees say their organization has provided such benefits.
“We’re all still figuring this out, this is the great experiment of hybrid work, and I don’t think any of us have it nailed down,” said Courtney Elling, Cisco Canada’s hybrid work leader.
According to the survey, Canadian employees rank “flexibility” second only to salary when considering employment opportunities, and 79 per cent feel hybrid work improves their work-life balance. Still, Ms. Elling said flexible work arrangements can make it harder for employees to unplug during off hours, which can have adverse mental health impacts over time.
“Boundary-setting is best if you can be transparent about what works best for you and insert [those conversations] into team rituals and norms,” she said, suggesting a weekly check-in with managers to talk about what’s working and what isn’t.
There are also a lot of small rituals and environmental factors that, when added together, help create a greater mental distance between work and life, according to Toni Frana, the lead career expert for job-hunting site FlexJobs.
“One of the first things that people should and need to do when they are working from home is create a dedicated physical space,” she said. “That does not need to be a full office in most cases; it can be re-imagined closet space.”
Ms. Frana advises communicating work schedules to other household members and requesting their assistance in keeping work time free from personal responsibilities, so that “someone can’t come and ask you to do laundry while you’re in your workspace.”
One of the greatest benefits of remote and hybrid work is the ability to avoid commuting, but Ms. Frana said the pause at the start and end of the day helped us better compartmentalize work and home responsibilities. That is why she recommends “recreating your commute,” even when working remotely, just without the traffic.
“Have a cup of coffee, walk outside or read the news; something to get you in the mindset of ‘going’ to work,” she said. “At the end of your workday, close your computer, leave your workspace and maybe go for a quick walk around the block, do some stretches or do something that really punctuates the end of your day.”
Another way to help create a healthier work-life balance is by taking regular breaks throughout the day and the year, during which time all work notifications and requests are ignored. Providing those breaks is now required by law in Ontario among employers with 25 or more staff, and other provinces – as well as the federal government – are exploring similar policies.
“Technology makes it easy to stay connected wherever we are, so really give yourself permission to unplug,” said Ms. Frana. “Of course, there are times you have to check in, but hopefully in your organization, there are also times where you can fully unplug.”
She said leadership can best support workers’ efforts to establish healthy work-life boundaries by modelling those behaviours themselves. “Setting that example can help employees feel comfortable doing the same.”