Your right to disconnect + chance to flow together (Wonder Dispatch)
reclaim the evenings as a bold act
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What if how you end your day mattered more than or as much as how you start it?
That’s the question I’ve been living and studying for a long time and what I want to take up with you in this Wonder Dispatch. It’s a question about boundaries, agency, creativity, and leadership.
You work for yourself: You find yourself at the screen past dinnertime, checking Slack or sending emails, convincing yourself you’re “just finishing up” but really, you’re avoiding rest. Or have a case of bedtime procrastination. (See Jeffrey’s Radar below.)
You work for an organization: After a full day of meetings and deliverables, you finally log off only to get pinged again. You hesitate. Should you respond?
You’re a contractor or fractional leader: Technically you make your own hours. But you feel beholden to reply quickly anyway.
If any of this evening blur resonates, you’re not alone. In a survey of 1,100 U.S. employees, 71% reported being expected to respond to emails after hours. Nearly three-quarters said this eroded their connection with loved ones and led to burnout.
So how do we reclaim the evening for recovery, wonder, and what matters outside of work?
This Wonder Dispatch explores that very question at three levels - and I invite you to write your own Right To Disconnect Proclamation or Policy.
In this week’s Wonder Dispatch:
Main story: Let’s look at the “Right-to-Disconnect” movement and what we each might do to create better boundaries in the “after-work” hours.
On Jeffrey’s Radar: what’s stoking our curiosity these days
A chance to work and flow together.
Most of us work and live in a Digital Matrix.
That statement seems undeniable. We’re challenged to set boundaries with how we interact with digital devices and tools for our well-being and flourishing.
When our time is always “on call,” our minds rarely enter the mode where awe, insight, or connection flourish. So, as I see it, there are three levels to the problem and potential solutions.
What do you think?
One: Systemic: The attention economy needs redesign
You’re not solely responsible for the maddening thought loops that hijack focus.
In Stolen Focus, Johann Hari persuasively argues that social media and productivity apps are designed deliberately to fracture our attention. He critiques thinkers like Nir Eyal, who encourages users to become "indistractible," despite once teaching tech companies as well as readers of his book Hooked how to hook users via addictive design.
Meta’s heart symbol, LinkedIn’s five-response choices, algorithms meant to fuel rage, gamification rewards. This requires federal and international legislation. The previous U.S. government administration tried to rein in some of the companies.
It’s an ambitious undertaking. At its worst, too much citizen fixation at this level can instill helplessness. At its best, citizen knowledge can instill more agency.
So what to do?
Two: Organizational: What signals are you sending?
If you lead a team or lead yourself, what norms shape your evenings?
France passed the first Right to Disconnect law in 2005. Pause there. 2005? Years before smartphones and Slack, when Internet connection required a wonky landline phone modem? When most laptops could barely stream a video?
Historically, French people have prioritized leisure, friendships, and rest. But French workers were getting work emails in late hours and expected to reply or risk losing their jobs. Hence, this law that has evolved over the years.
Since 2005, over a dozen countries have followed suit. Australia’s legislation for small businesses begins August 2025. If you work in Australia for a small business, soon you won’t have to respond to such pings for fear of retribution. The law will protect you. It’s part of the Right-To-Disconnect movement.
I think this movement reflects a deeper yearning not just for work-life integration, but also possibly for dignity, autonomy, and the ability to wonder again.
A very few notable companies have taken their own measures:
Daimler built email auto-deletion for vacationers.
Volkswagen collaborated with unions to pause mobile email access after hours.
California-based AlphaWave has a right-to-disconnect policy but only for Canadian employees.
Examples in the U.S. are sparse. This likely has to do in part with work culture and national acculturation. I’ve written about Workism and how GenZ and Millennial workers often “appear” to be busy so as to be highly viewed.
But long before legislation takes hold, organizations can choose to lead with values.
One standout is the mental health platform Spill, which bakes boundaries into its culture. Their policy is simple:
“Work really hard, and then really switch off.”
At Spill, “reasonable hours” are defined as 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. not as a rigid 11-hour workday (good god!), but as the window in which team members are expected (and allowed) to be contacted. Want to work earlier or later? Fine. Just don’t ping, post, or imply that others should be working too.
They back this up with clear norms:
Schedule emails and Slack messages to send during reasonable hours
Avoid calls and work messages outside those hours
Don’t use WhatsApp for work, period
And perhaps most radically: Don’t talk about working late.
In other words, no midnight hustle humblebrags. That’s my favorite.
For smaller teams and purpose-driven ventures, these shifts can be just as powerful. A few experiments I’ve seen work well with teams and orgs I’ve spoken to and worked with:
“Deep Work” days with no internal meetings
“Do Not Disturb” hours that honor focused time
Walk-and-talk meetings, even over Zoom, to bring some outdoors in
Each of these is about shared agreements that foster dignity, autonomy, and trust. These are ingredients every thoughtful workplace needs - whether of 100,000 or 1.
Which brings me to you. And to me. Be honest. Even if we can turn off work, many of us don’t. Why? Because staying responsive, online, and ‘on’ is often rewarded or just feels necessary. And it is a habit. And, frankly, many of us have forgotten how to be bored and offline well. (See On Jeffrey’s Radar below for more on boredom and phones.)
I say all of this in mutual understanding. Not an iota of judgment.
Three: Personal Level: Reclaiming the after-hours
If you’re your own boss, are you also being your own worst manager?
If you manage others, what norms are you reinforcing, even unintentionally, about being reachable at all times?
The cognitive science of “attention residue” shows that even micro-tasking such as glancing at a message mid-dinner or switching tabs during downtime diminishes our ability to be present or think deeply.
So, here’s a wonder-inviting question: What is your personal Right to Disconnect?
»> Start with what matters. What experiences and which people do you most value outside of work? What about your well-being, your creativity, your sleep?
»> Once you name what matters, take an honest look: Does your calendar, your screen time, and your after-hours attention reflect those values?
No shame here. Just awareness. That’s the heart of tracking wonder.
I’ve had to wrestle with my own boundaries, too. In my team, we aim for clarity: No expectation of Basecamp pings after hours unless we’ve named an exception in advance (say, the eve of a launch or a Monday morning huddle shift start time). Even then, any message comes with a clear “no pressure to respond” note.
When I get to decide my day’s end, I name it on my calendar and try to honor it. Most weekends, I unplug from digital communications about 90% of the time. What helps me follow through is delight: making plans that draw me outdoors, connect me to others, or activate creative parts of me - my young genius - that work doesn't touch.
There’s a real science to weekend recovery. And there’s a real art to protecting your attention.
Your Turn to Wonder: Write Your Own Right to Disconnect
Don’t wait for the law. Don’t wait for HR. You have a right not to feel exhausted all of the time.
»> What if you wrote very simply your own Right to Disconnect personal policy? Especially if you are your own boss?
This week, I invite you to try an experiment: Draft your own Right to Disconnect policy or proclamation. Share it with your team, your family, or just yourself.
What are three core values or priorities that guide your after-hours attention?
When do you fully unplug?
How do you want your evenings to feel?
What activities do you have the right to disconnect from?
What do you have the right to engage in?
What might be your “Last 3 Activities” before bed?
Declare your own “Right to Disconnect” window. Start with just one or two hours a night.
Here’s mine that I post in my workspace.
»> What might you reclaim or feel again of your attention had just one evening undivided?
I’d love to hear what you come up with. Hit reply if you’re reading by email or respond in the Comments if you’re reading in Substack.
Whether you run a team or run your own business or run your own day, setting clearer digital boundaries may be one of the boldest acts of creativity and respect you make this year.
Curiosities on Jeffrey’s Wonder Radar
Carlos Whittaker spontaneously displays wonder at his wife flying overhead. Wonder more. (Instagram) h/t to Fran Wescott - Focus & Flow Alum and TW Inner Circle Alum!
On the Death of Daydreaming: what we lose when phones take away boredom (Christine Rosen | After Babel) - that says it all
A Chance to Work & Flow Together
The Deepen Your Focus & Flow at Work Cohort
Retrain your brain to focus on work that matters even amidst distractions.
Begins May 19
Early-bird discount ends tomorrow, May 12 15
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Take your seat today. Jump to registration here. Bring a friend or your team. Alum and Premium members of The Wonder HUB receive a $50 off discount. Reach out to get your CODE. Upgrade to paid if you’re not already.
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Remember: Let me know what you would include in your Right to Disconnect policy. If reading in Substack, comment in the comments section so we can share ideas. If by email, hit Reply and let me know what’s resonating here.
Thank you for reading The Wonder Dispatch, for participating in The Wonder HUB on Substack, and for showing up for the work you’re here for and the work at hand.
If you have a question you'd like me to address in a future Dispatch, hit reply and let me know - or place a Comment in Substack.
Thanks for running with me,
Jeffrey
