As we move ever deeper into our socially connected world, with mobiles on, emails constant and tweets round the clock, how do we make sure we get a break?
Personally, I don't think it is the 'always on' challenge that's the problem - more the constant noise. Organisations need to think long and hard about how they give their people time to refresh and restore their brains away from the kerfuffles of highly demanding social engagement.
In Germany, as this piece from the BBC explains, they are looking long and hard at how they can minimise after-work intrusion. I believe the biggest challenge rests in the way we change working patterns in a world where an immediate reply is an employment expectation. Many people work 'round the clock' as they serve markets away from their own time zone or geographic border, so surely there must be some merit in creating new jobs so that communicators and others who find themselves a slave to the web can operate a shift pattern - providing new work for some and rest periods for others.
It is high time that everyone looked for a solution to this conundrum, before those who find themselves 'always on' and immersed in noise end up burning out and switching off for good.
