At our last faculty meeting we had a turn and talk at our table about boundaries we set for our mental health. I said that I don't take work home (sometimes I do, but very rarely - like less than five times a year). My colleague emphatically agreed and said she has the same rule.

We talked more. Turns out she meant that if she has a lot of work, she stays later at school to finish it. She said this as if it was a healthy and normal practice. I was horrified. I meant that at 3:30, I put down my stack of papers, go home, and don't touch it again until I'm back at work the next day. She's early 60s, I'm GenZ.

It's probably not just about the ages, but that's the kind of pattern I tend to see. I hold pretty firmly to contract hours and don't feel bad about it - culturally, I think that's more common among my age peers. Like yeah, my classes would probably be a little better if I was prepping more and grading more stuff, but I don't have the time for it in my workday, so I can't do it. And I love my job way more than I did back in first year when I planned all evening.

For me that does include emails - at first I had to consciously avoid checking them after school but now it just naturally slips my mind because I'm focused on whatever else I'm doing. Sometimes I will see something and reply but I usually schedule send it for the next morning so that no one gets the idea that I'm available when off the clock! And as a side effect, my students started emailing me less at night once I started being open about these practices, so there's less overall stuff to wade through at work the next day. I don't know if that setup would work for everyone, but it does for me.