Stop The Late-Night Emails

There was a time, many, many years ago, when taking our work home with us was a clear sign that we were overwhelmed. It wasn’t a badge of honor but rather a label that you couldn’t get all your work done at work. 

Even worse, it was a sign that your company couldn’t properly delegate tasks and was overwhelming their employees. Before that, taking your work home with you was impossible (save for a few papers hastily tucked into a briefcase!) There was no way to drag a giant mainframe computer to your car and drive it home.

The Technology Trap

But then, the speed of technology increased. First, it was laptops and then Blackberrys for the most valuable employees. Eventually, everyone voluntarily purchased a smartphone, and IT departments relented and started circulating instructions for how to load email onto that shiny new iPhone.

Just like that, we all got stuck taking work home. Today, if you own a smartphone, you take your work home with you every night. What used to be a rare occurrence that was barely noticed is now a daily onslaught of late-night emails.

For many people, it started innocently enough. “I’ll just put the kids to bed and check in real quick,” we’d tell ourselves. Or “I’ll just clear out the inbox so I’m fresh in the morning.”

But the problem with late-night emails, especially for leaders, isn’t the messages you’re consciously typing…it’s the larger message you’re unconsciously sending. When you’re sending emails after hours, you’re announcing to your team and to the whole company that you expect a similar responsiveness from them.

You’re subtly suggesting that the expectation is to indeed be always online—always able to respond. You may not be overtly advocating to do away with work-life balance, but your actions suggest you wouldn’t mind if others were as off-balance as you were. 

That’s a big problem.

The Case for Unplugging

Numerous studies have shown that time away from work improves productivity. Companies that allow employees to unplug and be nonresponsive on nights and weekends fully see greater productivity gains despite fewer working hours. 

That quick reply at 11:33 PM doesn’t seem so draining, but it adds up over time.

That’s why more and more companies are putting limits on after-hours emails. Some companies take this idea to the extreme and shut off their email servers after hours. You can still compose emails but can’t connect to send them until everyone is back at work.

But if you don’t work in such a company and feel the need to fire up your laptop or smartphone, at least consider the message you’re sending about the company culture. If you must get responses to each email, compose them and keep them in your drafts folder or schedule them to be sent the next morning.

The Impact of Always On Culture on Mental Health

The late-night email culture, with its always-on switch, can actually have a draining impact on your health. According to a study, people who felt obliged to respond to work emails after hours reported higher stress levels and even burnout. 

Of course, when you are constantly connected to work, boundaries blur, and work-life balance is lost. 

You can’t fully relax or disconnect from work, and when this thing goes on over time, it can lead to chronic stress, job dissatisfaction, and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Of course, this is why leaders who prioritize employees’ health encourage boundaries. They do not conduct any after-hours communication, and in this way, they build a healthy environment for employees to work in. 

When the employees return to work the next day, they are more energized and productive. Work-life balance is the key to maintaining mental health and clarity at work.

More Work Hours Don’t Mean Higher Productivity

Unfortunately, many still believe that working late hours, especially late at night, and not disconnecting from work can lead to higher productivity. The more time you spend working, the more productive you are. 

Research supports the fact that our productivity significantly drops after 50 hours of work a week. After 55 hours, no matter how much additional time we spend on our work, it is not beneficial at all. 

So while late-night emails and replies give you a false sense of accomplishment, you will be attempting those tasks in a fatigued state, and there are higher chances you will make mistakes. So, your productive time will actually be wasted, as you will have to revisit and revise your work, make amendments, and remove the errors you made in the wee hours.

When you work within the hours that are designated for you, you are more efficient. Of course, the quality of work is high, so focus on the quality and not the quantity of time you spend working. 

How to Create a Culture That Values Balance

It is the responsibility of leaders and managers to bring about a shift in the culture that allows for work-life balance. We need more policies like flexible working hours, email blackout periods, or mandatory vacation days.

Of course, leaders must also demonstrate this behavior. They must resist the urge to send out emails after hours and keep a focus on work-life balance. For organizational success, all employees should be encouraged to give feedback, voice their needs, and provide ways to manage the workload effectively in a healthy environment.

Wrap Up

We work in an always-on culture, so getting caught in the habit of sending out late-night emails or connecting with your employees after hours is quite the norm. This behavior affects an individual’s mental health and well-being, and in the long term, productivity and the organization will suffer as well.

When you send an email after work, it sends the message that you are working after hours. You expect the team to do the same, so stop doing that and encourage people to work during work hours and let them relax and unwind after work. 

When you create this balance, you will have a healthy workforce that is more productive and likely to stick with you in the long term.