Still On The Clock

You tell yourself checking in for five minutes is easier than switching off completely.

But it isn't.

Five minutes of email is never five minutes. It's the ten minutes before, spent bracing for what's in the inbox. It's the two hours after, spent replaying a line your coworker wrote. It's the walk on the beach where you're present in body only, because part of your brain is still drafting a reply.

We've gotten good at dressing up guilt as diligence. "I just want to stay in the loop" is a nice way of saying "I don't trust the silence."

Don’t trade your hard-earned vacation for some faux-productivity. It may make you feel accomplished or useful in the moment, but it’s a loan against your own recovery, and it comes due the second you're back at your desk.