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Writer's pictureDr Adeola Mead, ND

Boundaries... Not Burnout

Having healthy personal boundaries is essential for establishing wellbeing. The same can be said for workplace boundaries - without them, productivity and work-life balance become impacted.


When we don’t have healthy boundaries at work, it can lead to a host of emotional problems, including stress, burnout, resentment, frustration, and anger. Experiencing these feelings long-term can lead to a decline in productivity and motivation and increased absenteeism and attrition rates. Boundaries have a protective effect against stress and burnout.


In the workplace, we can see a lack of boundaries when:


  • Employees are afraid to turn down more work even though they know they can’t handle more

  • Employees are expected to be “online” outside standard working hours

  • Leaders don’t communicate a shift in priorities with enough advance notice

  • Co-workers interrupt each other’s workflow to chat and catch up

  • Staff don’t respect each other’s personal space

  • There are too many meetings that could have been an email

  • There is any kind of unwanted attention, gossip, or harassment occurring


Part of a leader’s role is creating and upholding healthy boundaries for themselves and their employees to ensure work-life balance is maintained and that everyone feels psychologically safe at work.



So, how can employers foster a workplace that respects healthy boundaries?


  • Avoid communicating with employees or expecting them to be responsive outside of their scheduled working hours


  • Encourage employees to limit overworking and allow time for a lunch break away from their desk


  • Have conversations about boundaries with staff; communicate the importance of having them and encourage team members to speak to their leaders about their boundaries


  • Model setting and enforcing boundaries at work so that others feel more comfortable and empowered to do the same


  • Hold yourself accountable for respecting the boundaries others have communicated to you


VitaliTeam Workplace Wellness helps companies build thriving cultures with a focus on whole-person well-being, social connection, and data-based organizational health initiatives.


Schedule a discovery call today to learn more about how we can help you promote overall organizational health and the individual wellbeing of each member of your team while boosting productivity and profitability.



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Adeola Mead is a Naturopathic Physician with 15+ years of clinical and corporate consultancy experience. Vitaliteam Workplace Wellness provides and curates health/wellness services and experiences centered on holistic, personalized care for individuals while fostering social connection and positive team cultures. We are a “Boutique EAP” agency that is hyper focused on identifying and comprehensively addressing the root cause issues underlying individual and organizational health concerns. Contact us for a complimentary health consult or corporate wellness discovery call.




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