Your community deserves your best self, not your constant self.

Always-on isn't a superpower. It's a fast track to burnout.

When you reply to a message at 11pm, you think you're being helpful. But instead, you're setting impossible expectations. For yourself. For your members. For everyone.

The scarcity principle applies to your community availability too. A RunClub available 24/7 wouldn't be special. RunClub at 6am Tuesday and Thursday becomes an institution.

Your absence creates value for your presence.

Always-on communities create shallow engagement. They overwhelm leaders. They create entitled members and burned-out staff. Your hours of operation aren't a limitation. They're a strategy.

Defined hours create anticipation for when you're back. They deepen engagement during active times. They create space for other members to step up. They sustain long-term community health.

Set your boundaries clearly. Community hours: Monday through Thursday, 10am to 6pm. Questions answered every morning at 9am. Live sessions Tuesdays and Fridays only. Then stick to them.

For questions that come in during off-hours, create asynchronous systems. FAQs that answer common questions. Forums where members help each other. Office hours for deeper issues.

Being available 20 percent of the time but fully present is infinitely more valuable than being half-present 100 percent of the time.

Your community doesn't need you to be superhuman. It needs you to be sustainable.