Are you also part of the Jevons paradox?

Microsoft’s recent Work Trend Index https://lnkd.in/gimgWGPc confirmed what a lot of us already suspected: the workday has become…longer. They call it the “triple-peak day” a surge of activity in the morning, again in the afternoon, and one more time late in the evening.

For me working remotely collaborating with people from three time zones, I get plenty of notifications a day: Teams messages, meeting invites, Outlook pings. All neatly synced across my laptop and mobile. It doesn’t stop unless I consciously pause it!! Even then, it feels like I’m only ever one tab away from re-entering work mode. I actually enjoy staying up to date, and I am guilty of checking my emails after work FOMO I guess?

It made me think about Jevons Paradox, an old economic theory!

Jevons Paradox is the idea that making something more efficient can actually lead to more use of it – not less.

(It comes from 19th-century economist William Jevons, who noticed that improving steam engine efficiency didn’t reduce coal consumption it increased it, because more people used coal for more things)

The same thing kind of happens in the modern workplace:

Laptops were supposed to make work more efficient – but now work isn’t confined to the office anymore, so instead of freeing up time, it follows us everywhere: home, airport, morning, evening.

Faster internet didn’t reduce our work hours – it just made it possible to stay connected from anywhere, which often means we do. The moment a connection is available, work is available too.

Smartphones were meant to give us flexibility but now we’re reachable 24/7. Messages, emails, and notifications follow us even when we’re not “at work.”

Email, Teams, and chat tools were designed to speed up communication but in reality, they multiplied it.

Microsoft’s report shows we’re replying to messages earlier in the morning and later at night, often across time zones, with no clear break.

We’ve built systems that make it incredibly easy to be productive. But in that convenience lies the trap: frictionless access creates constant access.

The tools aren’t the problem. They’re excellent.

But they also make it very easy to work everywhere, all the time, with no clear “stop” unless you actively draw the line.

And honestly? That line is getting harder to see.