For most people, when the weekend arrives, work-time is over for two full days. It probably depends on what you do for a living, but it’s supposed to hold true. To that end, more countries are considering a ban on work emails outside of work hours. People are literally getting worked to death. There are health consequences to blurry lines between work and non-work hours.
I took control of this situation several months ago – as much as I could, anyway. I have to log into work e-mail on a desktop. If someone sends a work-related email to my personal account on a weekend, I either ignore it and forward it to work, or politely ask them to use the work address. It all depends on whether they’re likely to be a repeat offender.
One of the issues stems from where we are in our careers. One worker in the UK nails it, in an explanation to the BBC.
It started when I lacked experience, I feared I might miss important information,” says Romain Gonord, a technical expert for Smile, an IT service provider with offices across France. “Now, it is a reflex, like checking my Facebook or Twitter timeline.”
And there’s a big part of it: Romain responds to that email and normalizes the weekend communication. He gives approval to a non-stop work-life. I get it. I lived radio when I started in the business, too. But there’s also a time in our lives when we no longer live in our careers, and maybe if we had more info about work/life balance at the outset, that time would start earlier. As the BBC article points out:
Working abnormal or long hours has long been linked with depression, anxiety and even coronary heart disease. Crucially, the importance of weekend recovery has also been correlated with weekly job performance and personal initiative.
What do you have if you don’t have a life away from work? As the old saying goes, nobody lies on their deathbed wishing they’d spent more time in the office. It becomes less clear, though, when you’re doing voice-work, or another freelance service, for international clients who are in vastly different time zones. When they say jump, you ask, hvor hoyt? (That’s “how high” in Danish!)
Some European companies now only allow email communication with employees half-an-hour before the start and after the end of workdays, and never on weekends. Tools such as Boomerang allow them to schedule when emails go out. It’s time they stopped thinking about their own need to disperse info and gave more thought to how – and when – it’s received at the other end.
Expectations! In an ever increasing always on connected society, the senders of all these messages expect that you’ll drop everything to respond to their inquiry. But it’s your time there asking for and only you are in control of your time. Those who know me, have long been aware, that if you send me an E-mail, text message or leave a voice mail, I’ll get back to you, but I’m not dropping everything to respond right away but when it’s convenient for me! I set the rules and expectations.
I agree with the sentiment but not your conclusion. You had it right earlier in the piece when you wrote of restricting business email to a business email account and leaving the choice up to you as to when you look at it.
I have the right to work when I want. I can, and do, send out messages at 3AM. I work from home, can’t sleep, and get some of my best work done when the phone isn’t ringing. I don’t have the right to demand that my correspondents answer me at 3AM. And that’s the beauty of email, I can send a thought when it’s fresh in my mind at 3AM and you can answer when it’s convenient for you. A lack of self-control on your part shouldn’t restrict my ability to work at my convenience.
Now, it’s a whole different story if I decide to give you a ring 😉
It’s not a lack of self-control. It’s seeing your name and a business subject line mixed in with Grandma’s weekly update and my Shopper’s Drug Mart eFlyer. A phone call is easier to ignore. Even if you mark it “not urgent”, it’s still invading my space and personal time.
I’d ask why you’re not using an email scheduling tool? I’ve used one for years. It allows me to get my thoughts down and out while still being considerate. A good, old-fashioned list and emails in a draft folder would also work.
Freelancers are a different ball game. My husband works with clients in China, South Africa, India and all over North America. Freelance clients expect you to always be available and when you’re not drawing a regular, full-time-job pay-cheque, you are only too happy to reply and comply. But otherwise, have a little self-control. 😉