Home For The Holidays And Still Checking Emails?
The Modern Dilemma
You’re curled up by the fireplace, coffee in hand, surrounded by twinkling lights, watching your favourite holiday movie and yet your phone buzzes. A “quick check” turns into an hour of catching up on messages, reviewing spreadsheets, or mentally rewriting your to-do list.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. In 2024, Angus Reid found that nearly half of Canadian professionals check work emails while on vacation, and more than a third feel guilty when they don’t.
The truth? What feels like “staying on top of things” is often what’s keeping us from feeling truly present.
The Cost of Constant Connection
Always being “on” doesn’t make you more reliable it makes you more depleted.
Data from Mental Health Research Canada’s 2024 Index shows that burnout levels across Canadian workplaces remain stubbornly high, especially among professionals juggling hybrid work and caregiving responsibilities.
Constant connectivity prevents your brain and body from resetting. That means higher stress, lower creativity, and less patience both at work and at home. Over time, it becomes a quiet drain on your motivation and mental health.
Rest isn’t a luxury, it’s a biological requirement for clarity, focus, and resilience.
Why It Matters for You
If you’ve ever found yourself sneaking work in during family gatherings or answering emails from your couch, it’s not because you lack discipline it’s because work has become omnipresent. But this season, you can take back control.
How to Protect Your Peace
Set your out-of-office early. Give people a clear signal that you’ll be offline and keep it firm.
Create a “digital drop zone.” Leave your laptop and work phone in one place at home, away from your holiday space.
Disable notifications. Even one less ping can quiet the brain’s urge to “just check.”
Start a new ritual. Replace your usual morning scroll with something grounding a walk, coffee with a loved one, or journaling.
Let go of guilt. You’ve earned this time. Rest is part of the work cycle, not the opposite of it.
Disconnecting isn’t about neglecting responsibility it’s about protecting your capacity to show up refreshed, creative, and engaged when you return.
Why It Matters for Leaders
If you manage others, your behaviour sets the tone even when you think no one’s watching. When you send late-night emails or reply on weekends, you unintentionally tell your team that “always available” is the norm.
Leaders who model healthy boundaries create cultures where people feel trusted, not tethered. That means fewer burnout cycles, stronger retention, and more innovation over time.
Encourage your team to power down without guilt. Delay non-urgent communications. Publicly recognize those who protect their boundaries it shows you value well-being as much as performance.
When leaders normalize rest, productivity becomes more sustainable and cultures become more human.
The Thrive & Co. Perspective
At Thrive & Co., we believe thriving workplaces start with people who feel respected, supported, and restored.
Disconnecting isn’t disloyal it’s how we renew the energy that fuels collaboration, creativity, and culture.
So this holiday season, let’s trade “always on” for “fully present.”
Because when January comes, the best gift you can bring back to work isn’t a new planner it’s a rested mind, a lighter heart, and the focus to truly thrive.
