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I don't know who needs to hear this but email is an asynchronous communications medium and someone sending you something after your work hours doesn't mean you need to read it right then. Unplug. Unwind. Manage your own inbox.
I feel like I've seen half a dozen bad takes about email in the last month or so and I am bewildered.
Everyone knows email is annoying but sending you an email is not a personal attack. You do not need to justify leaving it unread until you feel like reading it.
Everyone knows email is annoying but sending you an email is not a personal attack. You do not need to justify leaving it unread until you feel like reading it.
If someone's getting on your case about not responding to their emails immediately then by all means, snark away!
But if you are annoyed by people sending you emails at times you don't feel like answering email? The pressure is coming from inside the house.
But if you are annoyed by people sending you emails at times you don't feel like answering email? The pressure is coming from inside the house.
Like no I absolutely do not care if you don't answer my email for four whole days. I do not need a treatise on how indigos vibrate on a different frequency and are above the banality of email. You can just answer it when you answer it; I am not here to audit your time management.
And if having unread messages stresses you out then I get that. It's hard. And I wish you the best in figuring out how to manage that stress. But that does not mean it is rude for people to send you email over the weekend. They're not breaking some unwritten rule.
If something is truly urgent and needs an immediate reply, then like idk I think there's a way to use radio waves to have long distance voice conversations? If they're using email and expecting an instant reply that's a them problem. You don't need to make it a you problem.
This whole thread is snarky because I'm responding to people in positions of power going "how dare people interrupt my personal time with business correspondence" but I say this with compassion, as well: reclaiming your time is a form of self-care.
Not everyone CAN do it, and if you've got a boss with bad boundaries, then that's rough and I totally understand your annoyance. But if you're an editor or senior executive complaining about when people email you, then please: learn to log off.
First of all it's good for you, but second of all it sets a good example for your staff and more junior colleagues. You are in a position to normalize logging off. By respecting your own work-life balance, you give others permission to do likewise.
