Why working on holidays isn't that bad - if done correctly

Business Spotlight spoke with Laura Vanderkam, author of Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

Can blurred lines between work and personal time lead to more cases of burnout? Or does more flexibility reduce the pressure?

Work, in general, is a lot more flexible these days. Especially as more people work from home on occasion, people are finding themselves able to do some personal things during what would traditionally be considered work hours. If that's the case, then occasionally doing work during what could be personal hours is not really any different. Plus, many people enjoy aspects of their work. So, I don't think there needs to be a strict binary. I'd also point out that if people do some work on vacation, and can work from anywhere, then it's possible to travel with their family for more weeks than if work and vacation need to be strictly separated. I'll be travelling for over four weeks this summer (after already travelling some this spring), and there's no way I could do that and run my business if I didn't check in while on the road. This is the best of both worlds.

Is this only an American phenomenon, or is it Western culture in general?

Work is becoming more flexible in a lot of places, post-pandemic. As more people can work from anywhere, the lines between work and vacation can be more blurred. As long as people do things voluntarily, then it seems fine.

Can we change society in this regard?

What's interesting to me is how cultural and workplace change does happen. Some of us had been writing about remote work for years as a future trend, yet many offices only let people work from home on Fridays, and even then, you had to have worked at the company for five years for it to be an option. Then, the pandemic changed all that overnight, to the point where people won't even consider jobs where you have to be in the office five days a week. Often things build up and then something big changes things quite quickly.

You've written about ways to encourage calm. Is our world is increasingly frantic?

I'm not sure that the world is increasingly frantic. I do think some people find that smartphones encourage excessive stimulation (like checking social media many times per day), but we can all develop smart habits to limit that.

What works best for you when you need a moment of calm?

I like to go for walks, read or do puzzles. If people want to enjoy more calm leisure in their life, it helps to come up with a hobby or pastime like puzzles that can substitute for screen time. It tends to feel more rejuvenating, but doesn't take a lot more energy.