Why does a three-day weekend feel less like rest and more like a loan we have to repay with interest when it’s over? Somewhere around Sunday afternoon, a lot of us (Andrea Rouse, MBA, CMP, PMP ;-)) quietly switch into “Monday mode.” We open “just one email.” We “only check the reporting.” We convince ourselves that popping into the LMS, Teams, or inbox is harmless, the way you convince yourself that “just a taste” of dessert doesn’t count. Except it does.
We didn’t get worse at relaxing. Work just stopped fitting inside the container called “the workday.” Here’s what I see over and over as a coach, and as an employee:
-The calendar is a wall-to-wall gallery of meetings. Blank space = Scheduling error.
-Actual thinking time is something you steal at 9 pm, or on a holiday, instead of something you protect on purpose.
-“Quiet time” becomes the secret second shift no one admits is required to keep things afloat.
We talk about “engagement” and “resilience,” but we design weeks where the people doing the work have less control over their time than their Outlook settings. That’s not going to get high performance, but welcome to a system problem we’ve normalized. And this is not just about boundaries, it’s about operations…
-If a team has to quietly work off-hours to meet “normal” expectations, that’s a capacity and prioritization issue, not a character flaw.
-If every project is “top priority,” what we really mean is “we haven’t decided.” So, the decision gets made in private, on a couch, over a holiday weekend, with someone “just logging in for a few.”
-If leaders say, “Take time to disconnect,” but also reward the people who always reply first, we’re not empowering adults. We’re running an unofficial contest for who can self-sacrifice the most convincingly.
So, if you struggled to come back after your last loing weekend, I don’t think that means you’re uncommitted. It might mean your brain finally got a tiny sample of what it feels like not to be constantly interrupted, and it did not want to return it. So today, imagine a version of your work life where:
-Focused work fits inside the workday.
-Meetings exist because they add value, not because they always have.
-Holidays are not “catch-up days” disguised as rest.
Here’s my Monday-after-the-holiday question for you: What’s one small, non-dramatic change you’re willing to make so that your actual work fits inside your actual workday?
Block a focus slot and defend it?
Cancel a recurring meeting that should’ve been an email months ago?
Drop your answer in the comments and enjoy the holiday leftovers; I have a ridiculously carb loaded lunch planned!