Somehow, summer is nearly upon us. In the old days, when remote work and flexible schedules were the rare exception, the arrival of summer often came with a sigh of relief across the workforce—ties loosened, paces relaxed, vacations called.

But workplaces are different now. Increased flexibility and hybrid arrangements are the norm, meaning there’s a less clear delineation between our work lives and our home lives. This has given us immense benefit in terms of our work/life balance, productivity, and job opportunities, among other things, but it also means that our people may have a hard time being fully “off” from the job, which makes being fully “on” even harder, too.

This got me thinking: As we embark on this next season—one that historically came with an encouragement to unplug and unwind—how do we ensure our hybrid employees don’t burn out?

I believe this requires a proactive approach that blends flexibility, boundaries, and intentional culture support. A few ways to make sure that your people stay energized and engaged instead of exhausted during the summer may be:

1. Encourage real time off. Don’t just approve time off—encourage it. Leadership should model this behavior. Urge employees to fully disconnect when they’re on vacation—no emails or Slack check-ins.
2. Cultivate a no-guilt culture. Normalize taking time off by celebrating those who do. Eliminate the silent pressure to stay online.
3. Reinforce boundaries. Revisit expectations around availability, meeting hours, and message response times. Be mindful that people may be working from different locations due to family travel, so consider establishing core collaboration hours, while protecting the rest of the day for deep work or breaks.
4. Embrace adjustable hours. Allow team members to shift their hours for childcare, travel, or personal time during the summer. Consider implementing “Summer Fridays” or half-days. Even a few hours back can make a big difference.
5. Check in with managers. Teach managers to look for signs of burnout—such as irritability, withdrawal, and missed deadlines—and talk about workload openly.
6. Prioritize projects. Avoid overloading teams with major initiatives in the summer unless necessary.
7. Encourage mini recharge moments. Promote walk-and-talks, lunch breaks away from the screen, or short screen-free afternoons.

Of course, there are many ways to encourage our hard workers to rest, recharge, and reinvigorate. What are some of the tactics your organization uses to prevent burnout and maximize summer productivity—and fun?