The cycler

Finally, a person could be a cycler. Accounting and farming, for example, fall into cycles of heavy work and heavy time off. So during harvest or tax season, these entrepreneurs may be working all hours, but during other times of the year, they have more personal time.

This is typical of our event coordinators and contracts people in my business, where speaking events tend to fall in seasons.

In Europe, the culture typically is one that promotes work-life boundaries. By law, every country in the European Union has at least four work weeks of paid vacation.

A German industrial union recently won its workers the right to work 28 hours per week in a deal that eventually could affect almost 4 million people in the country, CNN reported. IG Metall, the biggest trade union in Germany for metal and engineering workers, struck the deal, which will allow workers the time they need to care for children, the elderly or sick relatives.

France is famous for its “right to disconnect” law, where businesses of more than 50 employees must negotiate the hours during which emails can be sent after work. (Yet because there are no fines for companies who flout the rules, the new law comes with little cost, Time magazine notes.)

The United States is the only developed country in the world without a single legally required paid vacation day or holiday, USAToday notes.

It’s important for leaders to lead by example and help set boundaries for their employees. I lead by setting boundaries for work communications.

My employees are not expected to send or respond to company emails, texts or phone calls after 5 p.m. unless it is an emergency. Likewise, we emphasize employees take personal time off. So in addition to their vacation days, we also offer half-day Fridays during the year and every other Friday off during the summer.

In terms of personal wellness, we offer $500 a year so employees can learn how to disconnect through yoga or other wellness classes.

Finally, we have employees set their own work and personal goals, making it clear that they are just as important as business goals in our company.

Setting work-life boundaries is not a perfect system. But by no longer chasing an illusory work-life balance and setting work-life boundaries, I find that I’m more present in both settings.

Barrett Cordero is the president of BigSpeak Inc., a global speakers bureau.