Workism has always been funny to me, and so are people who subordinate their entire lives to get to their current job position. When you talk to such people, it seems as if they have no individual identity, only their careers.
Well, that was funny to me until recently, and now it happens that I have so much work that my job has become almost my entire identity because I don't have any work/ life balance anymore.
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It is easier to try to set boundaries while working remotely as well. There has suddenly been a huge push for return to the office (in Houston) while most of the folks I've talked to aren't eager to return. Working from home is the only thing that motivates me at the moment and provides some sort of a work/life balance (b/c I can set boundaries easier). However, I expect the morale to sink to the absolute bottom when they make us return into the office.
Oh I'm saying the risk in saying no / actually being upfront about what you can actually accomplish in a set period of time is a bit lower now.... what are they gonna do; give you a bad rating? fire one of the remaining people covering 3 roles? We're not getting individual ratings & we're not getting bonuses this year. If there's any time to finally stand your ground on this nonsense it's now (especially if you're in a country where hiring has really recovered and you're contemplating jumping ship anyway). It's hard to pull yourself out of the of the fearful self-preservation mentality of 2020 (and tbh much earlier) of saying yes to everything but now's the time to set boundaries (and call it being agile, lmao).
Objecting to meetings outside of hours is not the problem. People are overworked and tight deadlines are set causing you to have to work late. If you do not work late you fall behind and when it comes time to present the work you are left looking unprepared unless you work late to prevent this.
Turn off after hour email notifications; if it's an emergency people can call you. Set working hours and stick to them (or at least attempt to/reject meetings outside those hours).