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The After-Work Email Quandry

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Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#51

Post by EliRivers »

jwmoz wrote: post #22

Come 17:30 work ceases to exist to me and my normal life takes over. I work to live, not vice versa. It saddens me this isn't the way for most.

Hell yes. I don't answer the phone (not that anyone at work has my phone number, unless they copied it from my initial job application), I don't even have the capability to check my work eMail account; from the moment I step off company premises until the moment I step back in, they don't exist.

The workplace started this game of paying for my time and they're getting what they paid for and not one second more.

I must say, it's worked out rather well. The suckers who make themselves available all the time at the drop of a hat get abused and certainly don't get any respect or extra thanks for it.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#52

Post by toomuchtodo »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #39
cballard wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't "check" my email, it comes over push notifications. So it doesn't discriminate between personal/work emails.

Best move I ever made was turning off every single push notification other than the messaging app my GF and I use with each other (she's wonderful at not abusing it). That's personal choice, obviously.

This is the right approach.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#53

Post by basseq »

I see the connected nature of work and after-hours email as a "symptom" of the blurring nature of work vs. life. Gone are the days where one clocks in and clocks out. I fully expect to check work emails and do other work "after hours" (read: on my own schedule). I also fully expect to check personal emails, read HN, and do other non-work activities during "work hours".

I get my work done, and I do it well. If you want to impose artificial constraints on when and how I do that work, you're stuck in the dark ages. My managers and teams understand that. Sometimes I have email conversations at 11pm at night because we all happen to be up. Sometimes I send emails that people don't even read until the next day: no problem. Sometimes I don't read emails until the next day: similar story. If it's truly urgent, people know to call or text.

I think it's a personal choice, though. I read (and respond to) emails after hours to a) plan and organize my coming day and b) do an ongoing triage of the things on my plate. I could do all this at 9am the next day, but I'd be more stressed as a result.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#54

Post by sokoloff »

crpatino wrote: post #45
sokoloff wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it was his "welcome to the company, here are a few things that will be helpful as you settle in, and here's the scoop on where to go for orientation" email, so it would ideally get to him before he arrived, and certainly before orientation started. Having two kids 3 and under doesn't lend itself very well to methodically planning out a carefully choreographed morning with just enough time to dash off an importa…

> Well, it was his "welcome to the company, here are a few things that will be helpful as you settle in, and here's the scoop on where to go for orientation" email... You could have said welcome and provide helpful advice at any time during the first day, as long as there was someone ready to great him first time in the morning. The same person could have taken him to the place where orientation will take place. If y…

I appreciate the sharing of your point of view and didn't take any offense (nor anything else negative).

I understand the people working for me who don't ever answer email unless they're on-call. Nothing negative as 24x7 email SLA isn't part of the bargain.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#55

Post by dredmorbius »

noir_lord wrote: post #20
dredmorbius wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few sides to this. One is, yes, a lack of imagination. But too: it's exceedingly difficult to find something that you can devote yourself to given the demands of work. A 9-5, 40-hour week is bad enough, but the norm for many, particularly in the tech world, is 50-60 hours or more. Commute, sleep, and other activities tie up yet more time. If you're following guidelines to stay fit, that's other hour, or s…

My away from computer hobby is cycling, I get to combine staying fit with something I love doing and occasionally ride with a local club which fits the social side as well (coffee,cake and a chat after 60 miles is awesome). It is hard to find time to do stuff sometimes though.

A good and valuable occupation, though I'd classify it as fitness actvity principally.

I'm referring more to engagement which occupies your mind. My experience, with employment in tech, is that exploring other technically complex issues is difficult -- there's only so much intellectual capacity a person's got. My own interests are the complex set of topics associated with sustainability: ennergy, climate change, human institutions from economics to politics to psychology to education and more.

As simply alternative mode operations, I've long found that some level of wrking with my hand -- physical manipulation though not necessarily hard physical work -- is quite rewarding. Woodwork, refinishing, building or repairing items, etc. Even cookking and household chores can fill this role.

It's a different headspace.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#56

Post by noir_lord »

dredmorbius wrote: post #55
noir_lord wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My away from computer hobby is cycling, I get to combine staying fit with something I love doing and occasionally ride with a local club which fits the social side as well (coffee,cake and a chat after 60 miles is awesome). It is hard to find time to do stuff sometimes though.

A good and valuable occupation, though I'd classify it as fitness actvity principally. I'm referring more to engagement which occupies your mind. My experience, with employment in tech, is that exploring other technically complex issues is difficult -- there's only so much intellectual capacity a person's got. My own interests are the complex set of topics associated with sustainability: ennergy, climate change, huma…

Physical work weather it's woodwork or a hill on a bike is a good way to get some distance from problems and think about them, I solve some of my toughest problems by going for a bike ride and deliberately focusing on the bike, view and riding style which I find clears my mind better than any other activity, usually a solution will present itself at that point.

Re: The After-Work Email Quandry

#57

Post by imglorp »

mfringel wrote: post #15
imglorp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's way more than that. There's a number of ways to motivate people, such as involving them in the team mission and empowering them, compensation, and recognition. Motivated people will do what it takes, including thinking about work off hours.

I'm having trouble parsing that series of statements. How does your second sentence relate to your third sentence?

I was saying there's more than fear of getting sacked to motivate someone to work off hours. If you set up the right environment, they'll be doing it without anyone asking.
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