There is a time to step back

Some days the job pulls at you from every side. The requests stack up, the group chat won't quiet, three people need an answer before you've finished the first thought. You feel the obligation to stay in it, to be reachable, to keep proving you're all in. So you never leave the floor, even in your head.

Seneca, who spent years near the center of Roman power and knew exactly how much a public life can take, gave permission to pull back. "We ought to withdraw ourselves from the forum and from public life," he wrote, when the noise and the hindrance start costing more than they're worth (Of Peace of Mind III, Stewart). Withdraw — for a stretch, on purpose, not in defeat. He adds that a great mind in a quiet, private station still has all the room it needs to grow.

This is the same move at a different scale. Some days you switch off at five. Some seasons you step back further: fewer commitments, a quieter calendar, a stretch where you're not the one carrying everything. The forum will keep going. It always does.

Being constantly available isn't a virtue. It's just a habit you can put down.