My first job out of college, I worked for Google during the pandemic. Both those taught me to set boundaries between my professional work and my other interests. I learned to remove distracting work apps from my phone; I learned to not feel guilty stopping early some days; I learned to get back to it tomorrow, or later.

My next job, my current job, at Glean forced me to reset those boundaries. I keep Slack on my phone in case of outages and late-night questions; I stay past 8 hours every day I go to the office; I finish up day of, even in the night.

I knowingly signed up for this change, when I deliberately recruited for start-ups and start-up-like companies. Yet like many large life changes, I did not feel it, internalize it, until I actually experienced it. I feel more satisfied with work, though it certainly takes more out of me. My relationship with work will change, as it has before, and eager and anxious, I welcome the novel experience.