Time Is a Boundary: Autonomy, Flexibility, and the Future of Work

“My best hours are for me.” — Megan Irene Albertson

“Peace is what I’m protecting now, not productivity.” — Jamila Weathers

“Work doesn’t have to be first. And it definitely doesn’t have to be forever.” — Dr. Linsey Grove

"Doing nothing is doing something. Rest is worthy of my time." — Dr. Tonicia Freeman-Foster, CDP®, CHES®, PMP®  

Time has come up again and again on Work is Third, my new podcast that invites you to rethink the role of work in your life and imagine something more joyful and more human. Time can be a thing we manage, but it's also a boundary, a resource, and a right. Thinking about this theme reminded me of a friend of mine, a federal worker, who was told he had to move across the country for a new in-office assignment. No option to stay remote. No regard for the life he’d built. In the agency’s view, it was just a personnel shift. For him, it was a total upheaval.

That is Time with a capital T.

👉🏽 Where do you want to spend your time?

👉🏽How do you want to spend your time?

👉🏽Who gets to decide?

While some of us are able to choose when, where, and how we work, that flexibility is not afforded to everyone. These conversations around autonomy and time often come with layers of privilege. But no matter where we work, psychological safety is a prerequisite for even beginning to ask: Could this be done differently?

Data Highlights: Time, Flexibility, and Mental Health

🕘 Only 33% of U.S. workers feel they have enough flexibility to manage both work and personal responsibilities. → APA 2024 Work in America Survey

⌛ Flexibility with time and schedule is linked to lower burnout, higher job satisfaction, and better work-life balance. → Future Forum Pulse, Winter Snapshot, February 2023

🏢 Return-to-office mandates are on the rise, but data shows that employee engagement is lowest for on-site employees. → Gallup Indicators, Hybrid Work

🧠 There is a remote work paradox - fully remote workers are the most engaged but also less likely to be thriving. Too much autonomy can be stressful! → Gallup, The Remote Work Paradox: Higher Engagement, Lower Wellbeing

Equity & Inclusion: Who Gets Time Autonomy?

📉 Low-wage and hourly workers have the least autonomy, with little flexibility to manage caregiving, medical appointments, or commuting burdens. → Economic Policy Institute, Flexible Work, July 2024

🤰🏽 Caregivers, especially women and people of color, are more likely to be penalized in rigid work environments that don't accommodate the unpredictability of caregiving. → Economic Policy Institute, Flexible Work, July 2024

🚫 Return-to-office mandates disproportionately harm employees with disabilities who gained new access to work during the remote era. → National Organization on Disability, "Employment Among People with Disabilities Hits Post-Pandemic High," July 2023

🗣️ Psychological safety is not evenly experienced. BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and employees with disabilities are less likely to feel safe questioning policies, offering feedback, or setting boundaries. → APA 2024 Work in America Survey

Boundary Highlight: Time as a Boundary

Time isn’t just a thing to be managed. It’s how we live our lives. It’s presence with our kids, rest in our bodies, laughter with our friends, and the ability to create, all without guilt.

But in too many workplaces, time becomes something employers expect you to give freely instead of being something workers can offer with limits.

Setting boundaries around time might look like:

• Blocking off your best hours for deep work - or for yourself
• Saying no to meetings that could be emails
• Leaving on time, even when others stay late
• Advocating for team norms that protect everyone’s time

How you spend your time is how you spend your life. Protect it.

Law & Policy: The Structures Behind the Schedule

⌚ The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guarantees a minimum wage and overtime pay, but doesn’t address schedule predictability or flexibility. This means that alternative work arrangements CAN be established between the employer and the employee or their representative. → Economic Policy Institute, Flexible Work, July 2024

🏠 Federal workers are being negatively affected by return-to-office policies. They are experiencing worse work-life balance, lower productivity, and logistical challenges like lack of physical space, internet outages, and inadequate parking. → Federal News Network, "Parking chaos and no toilet paper: An inside look at the federal return-to-office," March 2025

📍 State-level fair workweek laws (like in NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco) aim to provide workers with more stable, predictable, and transparent schedules - a win for part-time and hourly workers that helps them balance other needs in their lives. → National Women's Law Center, State and Local Laws Advancing Fair Work Schedules, September 2023

🗺 State preemption continues to be a barrier to wellbeing, with at least 13 states banning fair workweek laws. Florida (2024) and Texas (2023) are the two most recent states to join the list. → Economic Policy Institute, Workers' Rights Preemption in the U.S.

Take Action: Redefine How Your Time Is Spent

✅ Individual

• Block off your best hours for what matters most to YOU…not just your employer.
• Track your time for one week and ask: Where is it going? What do you want to reclaim?
• Use your PTO unapologetically - and take real breaks.

🏢 Organizational

• Offer flexible scheduling, job sharing, and compressed workweeks.
• Normalize calendar boundaries (including no-meeting days, deep work time, and off-camera meetings).
• Build psychological safety so employees feel safe setting and protecting their time and make sure that managers and supervisors are leading by example.

🌍 Systemic

• Advocate for national paid leave and schedule predictability laws.
• Support funding for caregiving, elder care, and mental health access.
• Invest in research and policy that values human time, not just labor hours.

Closing Thought

Time is a non-renewable resource. What we do with it - and how much control we have over it - isn’t just a personal decision. It’s a workplace issue, a public health issue, and a justice issue.

“My best hours are for me.”

Let’s create workplaces where that’s not the exception, it’s the expectation.