The workday is becoming infinite. Microsoft warns it's time to set new boundaries

"The 9-to-5 is fading, replaced by a fragmented cycle of early logins, late-night pings, and weekend catch-up. Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index shows the "infinite workday" is no longer an edge case. It's the norm for many knowledge workers. Unfortunately, it seems the pandemic-era "triple peak" work pattern-morning, afternoon, and an evening spike-has stuck. After-hours activity is rising. Meetings after 8 p.m. are up 16% year over year, and by 10 p.m. nearly one-third of active workers are back in their inboxes."

"The risk is fatigue and focus. When communication never sleeps, neither does context-switching, a leading cause of mental exhaustion. Microsoft's telemetry finds employees are interrupted, on average, every two minutes during core work hours-adding hundreds of pings a day among heavy-communication users. It's no surprise that nearly half of employees (48%) and more than half of leaders (52%) say work feels chaotic and fragmented. Samantha Madhosingh, a leadership consultant and executive coach with a background as a psychologist, says the issue is exacerbated by "flexi-working" while working remotely and trying to do it all."

The traditional 9-to-5 has been supplanted by fragmented work cycles with early logins, late-night pings, and weekend catch-up. Pandemic-era "triple peak" patterns—morning, afternoon, and evening spikes—persist, with meetings after 8 p.m. up 16% and nearly one-third of workers checking email by 10 p.m. Weekends see about 20% of weekend workers checking email before noon. Core focus windows shrink as half of meetings occur between 9–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m. Constant communication drives frequent context-switching, with interruptions about every two minutes for some users. Nearly half of employees and a majority of leaders report work feels chaotic and fragmented, increasing fatigue and burnout risk. Remote flexi-working erodes boundaries and organization, intensifying these effects.

Read at Fast Company