It was exhausting her as she tried to do a good job. Her clients had been used to being able to access her day and night. A group of us discussed it with her and said that it was time to set some ground rules and boundaries.
Another friend said that her colleagues and clients expected her to respond to emails late into the night and how this had become the norm. I remember hearing this from people having blackberries years ago and it still happens.
I’ve seen some really good examples of how people have set boundaries. For example, I purchased an online course and they said that questions would be answered from 9 – 4 pm Mondays to Fridays and within 24 hours.
Another example was my business mentor telling people not to tag her in a large Facebook group. It got to the point where she had to say that we could tag her in a private Facebook group because we were part of her mastermind program.
People tend to stick to the rules once they know the rules. So decide on them, communicate them and if they aren’t being stuck to, you can always refer back to them.
Would you benefit from having some more ground rules?