The importance of protected time
Let me offer some words of caution for anyone who may be interested in a job that requires them to be “always on” or to work at any given moment.
I have multiple friends and family members who have these kinds of jobs. Emergency room doctors aren’t the only ones with this expectation. In my case, it’s predominantly bankers, lawyers, and other professional services roles.
One friend working for a bank in New York City is expected to respond to all emails and messages from clients and higher-ups within fifteen minutes. Full stop. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5pm or 2am. Fifteen minutes.
It’s hard to fully grasp the impact this expectation has on your life until you see it up close. If you’re at church on Sunday morning, you step out to deal with a whining client. If you’re having dinner out with your parents, you send emails in the bathroom or outside the front door. Your “vacation time” is really just a status on your Microsoft Teams and Outlook profile that can be bypassed by anyone with something “urgent.”
Hell, you have to rouse yourself from sleep in the middle of the night if that dreaded ping emanates from your iPhone!
I understand various professional services have structured their business models and reputation on the “any time, any place, we’ll get it done” mentality. I get that they pay their employees handsome salaries. But they have constructed prisons of their own making.
People need protected time. They need psychological security and trust that there will be a period where they can be present and fully attend to the other things in their lives without anxiously awaiting the potential arrival of more work at any moment.
If you read all this and are still set on taking a job like this, godspeed. But make sure you process what that expectation costs you every day.