So why are today’s workers increasingly finding it so difficult to just stop working? In a fragile economy, performing busyness can seem like a necessary survival tactic. Taking a weekend off might appear disloyal or even weak — a risk when everyone feels replaceable.

Technology, too, has played a role in the loss of the weekend. Our ever-evolving smart phones and other devices mean that for many white-collar workers, leaving the office on Friday is a hollow gesture: they carry their offices on their phones. The modern employee is forever on call, and constant connectivity eradicates the line between leisure and labor. Meanwhile, the “gig economy,” the patchwork model that’s the new employment reality, chops time into ever-smaller pieces, divvied out among obligations.