Recently I saw a senior corporate executive include this in their email signature:
I work flexibly and in multiple time zones so may be working at times you are not. Please only respond to my emails in your normal working hours
I love this, particularly as it is so considerate of others.
As many of my friends and readers know, I am passionate about being boundaried at and with work, both for myself and those I communicate with.
My own version of the approach this executive takes is that I also may read emails outside of my normal working hours (as I work in multiple time zones too so get emails throughout any 24-hour period), but I discipline myself to only send a reply during my own working hours. I make good use of the “schedule send” function when I feel to focus on an email I receive and send my reply, but to be sure it then only gets actually sent during my normal working hours.
That said, reading the message that the executive uses has me consider this from other angles, such as:
- By delaying sending my reply, I may be delaying that person’s opportunity to progress their work when they wake up in their time zone, all so that I maintain my own boundaries.
- …but, I used to send emails at all times of the day and night and that was not good for me, nor (sometimes) for the quality of my response
- I have found that I find it best to know that, even if I do read an email, I won’t energetically engage with it and focus on it of an evening or early in the morning, I’ll scan it but then know I will pay closer attention to it during my normal working hours. That is a good approach for me, but perhaps for this executive they simply prefer (for them) to clear things when they arrive in their inbox, whenever that is.
“Different strokes for different folks” when it comes to this topic, but at the same time the key is for you to consider a) what is the best approach for you, and b) what works best for others you work with.
I encourage you to read this and to take some time to consider this for yourself.
Earlier posts around this topic include: “Don’t send emails after 5:30pm“, “Email is for information, not communication“, and “Don’t force it“. Any or all of these may be useful to you in considering your own approach. Oh, and the first linked post references the book in the image above, I highly recommend it.