Creating a culture of self-care in an always-on world

From checking emails on holiday to doomscrolling, a culture of self-care is vital for protecting mental health and wellbeing, says David Umpleby.

Half (55%) of employees now check work messages within minutes of waking on holiday, reducing their ability to recharge and increasing burnout risk. In most cases, this isn’t being driven by employers, but pressure employees place on themselves.

Similarly, while the government has mandated a social media ban for under 16s, many adults are still grappling with their digital habits. One in three adults regularly doomscroll, contributing to poor sleep, increased anxiety and reduced wellbeing.

Improving wellbeing isn’t simply about educating employees on unhealthy digital habits. It’s about creating a culture that empowers them to make healthier choices and establish better boundaries to free up time for exercise, recovery and social connection.

Five ways to create a culture of self-care

1. Make self-care a corporate priority

The UK has an overwork culture, with employees putting in some of the longest hours in Europe despite little evidence that longer hours improve productivity. People work through lunch, late into the evening and at weekends. They fail to take holiday or switch off even when they’re feeling unwell. Even though they know this makes them less productive.

A major reason for doing this is that in the short term, hitting that deadline or getting that extra task done makes them feel good. Given a choice between spending an extra hour at their desk to lighten tomorrow’s workload or checking their emails on holiday, most people will choose to work that extra hour to the detriment of their health.

Repeatedly doing this can create long-term mental health issues, in particular stress, anxiety and burnout. Only by recognising the harm that this is doing to employees, and creating a workplace culture that actively encourages self-care can employers hope to buck this trend.

2. Reduce the anxiety associated with disconnecting

If managers are seen to be sending emails at 6am or from their sun lounger, the message to employees is this is what it takes to succeed in this organisation. Even if that’s the manager’s personal choice, it still carries huge weight for employees.

Employees who ‘choose’ to do the same are often driven by anxiety. “What will happen if I don’t reply to that email straight away? What if that project stalls while I’m on holiday? What if that notification alert was important?” For many, the anxiety of not knowing what’s happening in their absence can be worse than the distraction of staying connected.

However, disconnecting on holiday is vital for reducing stress and burnout risk and restoring attention, focus and mental health. To make employees feel safe disconnecting, nominate someone who can cover in their absence, or agree another way of getting in touch, such as a text message for anything urgent, so they’re not constantly checking their inbox.

3. Help employees take stock of their habits

This Self-Care Month (24 June – 24 July) the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging individuals to test their health, track their behaviour and thrive through healthier boundaries and choices. The aim is to empower individuals to ‘put their health in their own hands’.

Employers can support this by helping employees take a baseline measure of their wellbeing. This can range from wellbeing checks and apps that assess physical and mental health to encouraging employees to take a moment to take stock of their mood and stress levels.

Once they have this baseline, employees can then monitor what impact their behaviours are having on their wellbeing. Does looking at social media make them feel energised or drained? Is running every decision through AI making them feel empowered or uncertain? What impact is checking their inbox on holiday having on their personal relationships?

4. Support conscious choices and healthy goals

Instead of leaving people to go it alone when it comes to making healthier choices, incorporate self-care into your overall wellbeing strategy. This could range from setting new wellbeing challenges to incentivising employees to participate in existing programmes.

Critical to success is setting achievable goals and making conscious choices to achieve these. For example, employees working across different time-zones might decide not to start talking to Asia at 5am and America until 11pm in the same day. Those in the UK might decide to introduce a digital ‘sundown’ and completely disconnect from social media after a set time.

Encourage employees to build a healthier relationship with themselves and be kind to themselves if they struggle at first. It takes time and effort to build a new habit or put a healthier boundary in place. If they don’t manage their lunchtime walk today, they can do it tomorrow. It’s about doing little and often and setting small achievable goals.

5. Signpost people into existing support services

Instead of labelling wellbeing tools, such as the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) as a ‘crisis’ helpline, promote this as a resource for proactive wellbeing support and coaching. That way employees struggling unhealthy digital habits or anxiety linked to disconnecting can talk to a mental health professional about the underlying reason to get new strategies.

It’s also important to understand your demographic and tailor communications and pathways accordingly. A single formal email is unlikely to resonate with younger employees in the same way as more digital content designed to reach those struggling to disconnect the most.

By making sure your wellbeing support is supporting all five generations, instead of expecting everyone to fit into a mould, you can better support differing mental health needs and the changing digital habits of all your people.

Nicola Jagielski is Clinical Director for PAM Group

How can PAM Group help?

PAM Group’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) supports over 1.5 million employees in the UK and provides fast, confidential access to expert help whenever employees need it.

Available 24/7, it includes telephone and online access to BACP-accredited counsellors to provide employees with confidential space to talk.

On average, employees experience a 57% reduction in anxiety levels (GAD-7 scores after PAM counselling, 2025).

For more information visit pamgroup.co.uk/eap