New research highlights a pressing issue for the modern workforce: the erosion of the line between professional and personal life is pushing a significant portion of the population towards exhaustion. Experts warn that failing to properly switch off from work is not just detrimental to health but also counterproductive to performance.
The Recovery Paradox: Why Stress Makes It Harder to Unwind
A study by the responsible business network Business in the Community (BITC) reveals the scale of the problem. It found that 55% of employees feel pressured to respond to calls or check emails outside of their contracted hours. Furthermore, high workloads drive two in five to work overtime regularly.
Sabine Sonnentag, a professor of work and organisational psychology at the University of Mannheim, explains the critical need for psychological detachment—the mental and physical disconnection from job-related tasks during non-work time. "Empirical studies have identified a positive relationship between psychological detachment and job performance," she states. A lack of it is linked to negative mood and impaired wellbeing.
Ironically, the very factors that make detachment most necessary also make it hardest to achieve. Sonnentag identifies this as the recovery paradox: "Greater exposure to job stressors simultaneously calls for but prevents recovery." High workloads and time pressures can lead to rumination or the temptation to sneak back to the laptop.
Creating Your Daily De-stress Ritual
For the 40% of Britons who now work fully or partly from home, creating separation is a particular challenge. While remote work offers flexibility, surveys indicate 52% of people who shifted to remote working during the pandemic report regularly working longer hours than before.
Dr Claire Ashley, a former GP and author of The Burnout Doctor, emphasises the importance of a clear end-of-day routine. "Practising a daily ritual serves as a cue to deactivate the stress-response system," she says. This could be movement, listening to loud music, or a puzzle like Wordle. Over time, it becomes a Pavlovian signal that the workday is done.
She also advises creating physical separation at home. "Without a designated workspace on which you can close the door, it’s even more important to ‘clear your desk’ and put work things out of sight."
Before finishing, however, tying up loose ends can help. Research from Ball State University suggests that leaving important tasks unfinished hinders evening detachment. Sonnentag recommends taking a few minutes to note down how you will address the task tomorrow, which can help you mentally close the loop.
Beyond the Bath: Finding What Works for You
Scheduling committed after-work activities—like a booked fitness class or meeting friends—can force a hard stop to the working day. A 2023 Australian study on post-work recovery identified three effective strategies: physical activity, spending time with loved ones, and engaging in hobbies like gardening or sewing.
Professor Sonnentag stresses that the quality of the recovery experience is paramount. Her research pinpoints four key experiences: psychological detachment (forgetting about work), relaxation, mastery (tackling challenges), and control over your leisure time.
"An activity that offers a recovery experience for one person may not be helpful to another," she notes, suggesting that the oft-prescribed candlelit bath might be entirely wrong for some.
Combating a Culture of Constant Connectivity
The pressure to be always "on" is often rooted in workplace culture, not personal failing. A University of Manchester study found that engaging with work email during leisure time harmed health. Alarmingly, over a third of workers said their boss emailed them outside hours, and a quarter felt an expectation to respond.
"We have a big problem with presenteeism in this country," says Dr Ashley. "Being terminally ‘on’ prevents employees from getting the rest they need and can trigger burnout." While burnout prevalence peaked during the pandemic, data shows one in five people in the UK remain at high risk.
Business psychologist Louise Cashman, a burnout survivor herself, advocates for clear, communicated boundaries. This might mean using an out-of-office reply outside working hours or even during a particularly busy day to manage expectations. "Boundaries shouldn’t be perceived as shirking," Ashley adds. "Communicating them clearly makes life easier for everyone."
Ultimately, even those who love their jobs need to enforce these limits. "Most cases of burnout begin with people loving their jobs," Ashley warns. "Everyone needs downtime." By consciously reclaiming that time, we protect our wellbeing and sustain our performance in the long run.
