Protecting Your Boundaries

A full calendar can feel productive—but it’s often a sign that something’s out of balance.

Nine out of ten adults believe there is a mental health crisis in America, and workplace norms play a role in that. Learning to set healthy boundaries at work is one of the most effective ways to protect your mental well-being—and it doesn’t require being rigid or confrontational. Often, it’s about making simple, thoughtful adjustments that allow you to show up with more energy and clarity.

Why Saying No Is So Difficult

Most people want to be seen as helpful and reliable. It’s human nature to want to contribute. But when you say yes too often—especially without checking your capacity—you start pushing your priorities and mental bandwidth to the side. This can quickly spiral into chronic overwork and stress. It is common for adults to report work as a significant source of stress, and this type of pressure doesn’t usually go away on its own. It takes intention to change how you respond and reset the norms around your time.

Signs That Your Boundaries Are Blurring

Stress doesn’t always show up loudly. It might look like reading the same email twice without absorbing it, saying yes before you’ve had a chance to evaluate your workload, or ending the day with no clear sense of what you accomplished. When work starts bleeding into every corner of your day, it’s time to take notice—and take back control of your time.

Practical Ways to Reset
You don’t need to overhaul your schedule overnight. Start with one or two small shifts that support your mental load.

Delay your yes.
Instead of answering right away, take a few minutes—or even a few hours—to check your schedule and assess your bandwidth.

Use straightforward language.
You can politely decline without overexplaining. A simple note like “I’m not available this week but happy to revisit later” is enough.

Rehearse common responses.
If you tend to feel pressured in the moment, practicing a few phrases ahead of time can help you stick to your boundaries.

Nourish curiosity.
Listen to a podcast, read something non-work-related, or write down an idea you've been putting off.

Make technology work for you.
Try moving email off your phone’s home screen on weekends or using calendar blocks to protect focus time.

Change the rhythm, not the relationship.
If late-night requests are common, propose a regular check-in earlier in the week to realign expectations.

Keep a "no list."
Create a mental or written list of tasks, times, or situations that tend to leave you drained—so you can pause before automatically agreeing.

What to Expect When You Start
At first, setting boundaries may feel uncomfortable. You might worry that you’ll disappoint someone or seem uncooperative. But usually the opposite happens: your communication becomes clearer, your workload becomes more manageable, and your sense of control starts to return.

Start Small, Stay Consistent
Pick one area where your limits feel stretched—maybe it’s meeting overload, late-night emails, or quick-turnaround requests. Choose one habit to shift this week and see how it feels.

Boundaries aren’t about being unavailable. They’re about protecting your energy so you can be present and productive where it matters most.

_{SOURCE: United Benefit Advisors (UBA)}