Worker describes their frustration at their coworkers who refuse to take time off even during their vacations, creating a culture where everyone is expected to be constantly connected: '[They have] zero boundaries with work life balance'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Dec 27, 2025 12:00 PM EST

There is an epidemic quietly reshaping our lives, how we live, work, and even rest. We are permanently switched on, tethered to notifications, inboxes, and expectations that never seem to cease. We've become a society where somehow the appearance of being "busy" means more than the actual work itself and the quality of work we're putting forward.

It started with the status lights on team communication software, green for "active," amber for "inactive," and grey for "definitely at the beach and not working today." Now, it has spread to our evenings, holidays, and vacations. 

Constantly required to be present, always connected. If you're out of reach and unable to respond to your boss's messages for even one evening or one day, it's a catastrophe, a betrayal, and flying in the face of your obligation to the company and what the company "Stands for."

I saw something recently that I found quite striking, and it has stuck with me: all of this connectedness and distractedness. It all keeps our minds from being bored and wandering, it keeps us from turning to books and reading, and distracts us from the very things that we know lead to and fuel creativity and ideation.

Is that why, then, we have turned to automation to do our creative tasks? Are we truly and entirely disconnected from the ability to be creative?

As someone who is, by nature, tied to the internet for a living, I find it quite challenging to get away from my laptop and switch off. But I need to be able to do this. As a writer, I need to read to hone my vocabulary, keep those neural circuits firing, and expand my lexicon. Reading away from any screens for extended periods is the best way to do this, but there's this constant push-and-pull between my computer-centric tasks and my actual need and ability to write.

I have found myself, these last few years, reading less than ever, getting further and further away from something that is so important to my work.

So here's what I'm doing in 2026: Greyscale screens, using accessibility and productivity settings on both my iPhone and laptop to reduce dependence on screens for dopamine. Reduce distractions, try to remain offline as often as possible, and dig into deep work periods, allocating time to tasks that won't be interrupted by my phone, email, or messages. The same will go for my personal time and time with my friends and family: be present in the moment and take it in at its fullest. 

What else, really, is the point of all of this anyway?

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  • A worker works while on vacation at the beach
    via Fellipe Ditadi For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • In this worker's workplace, they have observed the corporate environment where all of their coworkers are either doing everything they can to avoid burnout or overexerting themselves. With some of their coworkers even working while on vacation, creating a culture where everyone else is expected to do the same. 

    This type of behavior in any workplace is harmful in the long run, as workers are pushed to burnout. This relentless pursuit of productivity isn't making us more successful; it's making us all feel burned out and separating us from the things in life that really matter.

  • "My job “requires” 24/7 availability now... But somehow doesn’t require paying me for it"

    I work for an incredibly large company. There are people who hide in the crowd and always kick the can down the road, and everyone knows who they are. Everyone also knows, who works nonstop, and have zero boundaries with work life balance.
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  • We are approaching a large Christmas break and one of my coworkers who has these pi① poor boundaries is at a water park with her family right now, and she Won't. Stop. Working. She's been training myself and another new to the role but not a new hire, and we are both pretty self sufficient and any mistakes that have been made are minor and formatting errors.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • The coworker on vacation, has worked, every day of her vacation for a few hours each day even on the weekends. WHY?!?! We work in HR. We don't do heart surgeries, and we don't even handle pay! We handle FMLA and disability claims, and everything is backdated 9 out of 10 times. There's no reason to work constantly.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Another coworker just got back from vacation, and she said she worked every day and did nothing at home besides pull out Christmas decorations and hang a tree.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • I like my coworkers, but also, I WANT A BREAK FROM THEM. It's good for morale when the people you see every day, go away for a while. No one needs to work constantly, and if you do, you're setting the precedent that everyone else should do the same. If I'm on PTO, I am not opening my email or answering phone calls. It shouldn't be a phantom expectation to work while you're on vacation!!!!
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Schrutebucks101 My boss once said to me "I'll try not to bother you when on vacation" and I said "you can try all you want but I don't have email or messenger on my phone so ". Some people are addicted to work
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Glum_Possibility_367 I'm approaching retirement after 40+ years in the workforce, and only recently did I take a vacation that lasted longer than a week. It was also one of the few times that I did no work while on vacation. It was...wild. Why? Because for the first time ever I am not in fear of losing my job. Fear is the reason people can't stop working. Fear of failure, fear of getting yelled at, fear of missing deadlines, fear of getting fired.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • BitwiseB This is what I started a while back, and several of my co- workers over the years have adopted it: I will ask one co-worker to be my contact person. This should be someone who is in a similar role to you, and has good personal boundaries. This one person has a number that will reach me while I'm on vacation.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • I then set all of my auto- responders and status messages to say something along these lines: I am on vacation until (date) without access to my phone or email. I will not be able to respond to your message until after I return. If this is a time-sensitive matter, please reach out to (colleague's name and contact information) during my absence. Have a great day!
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Now this colleague is able to run triage for you - they can likely handle most things on their own, but they have your contact information if they actually need your input. I have done this for 15 years and have only been contacted on vacation twice.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Mikethemechanic00 Worked at a job where the manager rarely took time off. After 4 years working 6 days a week and lots of overtime. My manager told us he was going to take a week off. We were so excited. We needed a break from the guy. Come Monday his first day off. He shows up. The shop went quiet. People were dancing
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • and in a great mood. Asked my boss what he was going at work. He told me he had things to do and was only going to be at work a few hours. Day 2 of his vacation. He shows up to work. I yell out loud WTF! Same story from my boss. I went to the GM and raised hell. Told him we needed a break from our
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • manager. Day 3 my boss shows up. The GM stops him from going into work. The GM told him to go home and take the following 2 work day off. Your guys need a break. My boss looks ay me and knew it was me. He yells. You will pay! The guy would not talk to me for a week.
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • Upstairs_Spread_8554 My boss has given me his cell number in case of emergencies while he's on vacation and I'm like there is literally no reason I could envision contacting you on vacation If I have a real urgent thing come up there are other people I can get help from, please just log off and don't think about anything!
    via ThrowRA24789765
  • SF49ersfan77 Went on a cruise for vacation last summer, best 10 days of vacation ever. Not a single phone call, email, customer complaint, not a single text from my boss. Needless to say I'm going again this coming summer.
    via ThrowRA24789765

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