Flexibility and Boundaries in Work and Life
Optimising work-life balance in a flexible world
In this final article of my transition series, I want to explore the crucial interplay between flexibility and boundaries in both work and life. These themes often arise in organisational contexts—such as "strict policies" versus "space to innovate and change"—as well as in workplace relationships: "that's not my role" versus "happy to pick this up." They also manifest in our personal lives: "I am off the grid" versus "I can work around you."
The Shift Toward Flexibility
Often, when people undergo periods of transition, they change how they approach things altogether. Many move toward greater flexibility in their work and life—for example, working freelance, remotely, or outside of standard office hours.
In today's world, we value flexibility because it allows us to seize more opportunities. Rigid ways of working and living can tie us to time, place and task, limit our potential and stifle innovation.
The Advantages of Rigidity
However, rigid ways of working have their advantages in tuning out noise and enhancing focus. They also create default boundaries that are harder to come by in modern working practices, and this can help separate work and life. For example, when I am in clinic delivering healthcare, I can be nowhere else. Interruptions are limited to medical emergencies only. I don't leave work until I've finished that day's tasks. The focus that can be achieved in these environments is powerful. It's also a luxury, in some ways, to be off the grid from other duties.
The Challenges of Maintaining Rigidity
On the flip side, maintaining this level of rigidity full time is challenging in the context of modern life. Having some flexibility in how, where, and when I work means I can support my network in other ways. It gives me some agility to pause work and pick it up later when necessary, allowing me to respond to life issues as they arise. The ‘life’ workstream would have to be more thoroughly and securely outsourced to enable me to work in highly boundaried environments full time. And that comes at cost, including, but not limited to, a financial cost.
The Cost of Flexibility
While flexibility is beneficial, it also comes at a cost. Without clear boundaries, schedules can become overcrowded. There's increased cross-contamination between work and life. Conflicting priorities become more pronounced when there are options. Oftentimes, people find themselves juggling work and personal life simultaneously, even outside office hours. This isn't sustainable or effective and can leave you feeling like you're underdelivering on both fronts.
The Need for Balance
Flexibility is desirable in modern work environments. Legislation is even changing to make options for certain flexible work arrangements a legal requirement where possible. However, flexibility inevitably makes boundaries more fluid. This leaves it to individuals to establish and maintain their own boundaries, a process that can be dynamic and challenging.
Observations from Occupational Health
In my occupational health practice, I consistently observe that when demand outweighs resources, establishing and maintaining boundaries is challenging. This applies within the work domain as well as across work and life domains. Flexibility in where and how we work contributes to this, as more people are caught in an all-hours all-timezones all-duties juggling act.
Over time, individuals and societies are reacting to this, leading to behaviour changes. On an individual level, it is not uncommon to receive emails from colleagues at any time of day which include email footers indicating no expectation of immediate responses outside office hours. On a broader scale, parts of Europe, Canada and Australia have legislated or implemented codes of practice around an employee’s ‘right to disconnect’ from work outside of working hours. Though this has not been included in the UK Government’s new Employment Rights Bill, it is still being discussed.
There are some examples of organisational behaviour shifting towards boundaries to reign in flexibility. For example, some German vehicle makers used auto-delete policies for email received outside of working hours or while employees were on leave. In addition, some organisations mandate whole company downtime where most of the workforce takes leave simultaneously. Clearly, there are pros and cons of these approaches. What is clear is that leaving boundaries to individuals to implement is challenging, necessitating the introduction of top-down policies to help people switch off from work.
Lara’s take
I believe organisations and individuals are beginning to understand the downside of flexibility, and the challenges managing boundaries around flexible working. Few are trying to establish top-down programmes or practices that help address this. Almost none are equipping themselves and their people with space to think through what more flexibility means in practice, the impact on boundaries, and skills on how to manage this. This especially relevant when we think about how the ways we live and work are changing, as a result of technology and other factors including the cost of living and the covid-19 pandemic. There are more options on the table, and flexibility is a commodity that many people aim to build more of through periods of career transition.
Where organisations offer flexibility, they must recognise what it means for their people holistically. This involves weighing both the pros and cons. Individuals pursuing flexibility can benefit from deeper reflection on boundaries in parallel, including how this plays out in terms of logistics and emotional bandwidth.
When undergoing a transition, seeking flexibility while anticipating its impact on boundaries is essential for sustainability. Here are some practical tips:
Consider the bigger picture
Don't view career changes in isolation. Always consider what’s happening career-wise within the context of your wider setup and other commitments. Do these other forces work for or against boundaries? What boundaries can you afford to put in place to help everything function? Things to consider can include:
Financial commitments
Personal interests
Assess your need for control
Determine how much control over your time and energy you need, when, and where. Identify where flexibility might work against your need for control. Recognise times or days when you need to be completely off the grid, and do what you can to implement boundaries around these times. What about where boundaries are not essential but a ‘nice to have?’
Take a look at your day to day or week to week
Where is flexibility becoming counter productive? Where would boundaries help and what can actually be done to implement them? Some examples that may resonate…
Does round-the-clock email accessibility affect your sleep or personal life? How can you set limits?
Working remotely to help coordinate home renovations? How can you minimise interruptions?
Does the ability to work abroad mean you never take a true vacation? How can you plan dedicated downtime?
After all of that, accept that boundaries may need to move
Set boundaries where they make sense but accept that they won't be set in stone—that's the essence of flexibility. Communicate boundaries and changes in where they lie to those around you, understanding that this process requires time and energy in itself.
Conclusion
Pure flexibility can seem desirable when making career changes, but it is not always sustainable. This is something we are only just coming to understand, alongside the realisation that humans find it hard to implement their own boundaries. As flexibility becomes more prevalent in our working lives, we must develop the skills to manage it effectively.
