How to Switch Off Your Work Phone and Keep Your Job

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For modern professionals, finding the boundaries of professional life can mean improving your overall quality of life. If you are willing to answer emails any day of the week at any hour of the day, you will continue to receive those emails. By setting boundaries, however, you can cultivate other areas of your life more fully whether than means time with family or creative enterprise.

Firstly, it’s important to be aware of any guidelines your company may have about mobile device use outside of office hours. Then once you know how much leeway you have to make changes, give your employer a clear explanation of why you’d like more time away from your mobile device.

In approaching your boss and colleagues, communicate what your priorities are–whether it’s recharging by spending quality time with your family, or pursuing your passions outside of work. “If you let people work you to death, they will,” says Traci Bild, founder of Bild & Company, a national health care consulting firm in Tampa, Florida. “People respect those who know how to set boundaries.”

If your plan is to answer business email received after 5:30 p.m. the next day, it’s essential to notify those affected by your new schedule. You’ll also want to establish a channel for emergency messages to get through. Perhaps that’s a special email subject line that identifies an emergency message, or a direct call to your mobile phone. Finally, whatever your plan is, be consistent about it, or people won’t take your new schedule seriously and all your efforts will have been for nought.