Midnight Emails? NEVER!

Is Sending E-mail after Midnight a Good Idea?

NO! A resounding no!

Some corporate emailers may think they’re impressing their bosses, peers or subordinates by sending emails in the middle of the night. And while an occasional 3:00 AM e-mail may be “forgiven,” think again.

It doesn’t take much to understand why. Just turn the tables and note how you feel when you see the time stamp as some ungodly hour!

So, from your boss’s perspective, consider these perceptions:

• Why is Jim up at 4:00AM, regularly? Is he getting enough sleep? Is he in control? Is he stressed out? Is he out of balance?
• Is Rebecca just trying to impress me? Does she think that I value this behavior? Doesn’t she know how to delay the sending of the email to a “normal” hour?
• What part of “have a balanced life” didn’t he understand?

From your co-workers’ perpectives:

• There Avish goes again, trying to impress the boss. What a manipulator.
• No wonder Sally isn’t with it during the day. She’s not getting enough sleep.
• How can he be thinking clearly at 2:00 AM?
• Does this mean I hafta get up and check my email, since Harry does it?

And, from your employee’s perspective:

• Yikes. My boss is emailing me at 3:00 AM! I wonder if he expects me to do that too?!
• I better check my email first thing in the morning; the boss may have sent me something again in the middle of the night. How’s that for wake up stress?
• Whasssamatter with her? Is she losing it? Why can’t my boss get a good night’s sleep?
• Does this mean I have to have my blackberry wake me in the middle of the night?
• Since he’s working 24/7, I assume he wants me to also. Gad, I hate my job.

In addition to these unhealthy perceptions, you’re taking a real risk emailing when you haven’t had a full night’s sleep. You may not be running on all cylinders. We’ve all regretted sending an email when we were awake and functioning during the day. Sending in a sleepy state increases the potential for misconstrued messages.

It could be even worse if you woke up in anger because of an issue at work, and decided to handle it by email in your sleepy, emotional state. While email messages should never be sent in anger, somehow they tend to get blasted in the early morning hours of the day. Many times, daylight gives you a more balanced, less emotional perspective.

Many emails sent in the wee hours of the morning are regretted. Don’t let that happen to you.

On the occasion that you are at your computer in the early AM, if you must, compose a message, then save it. Don’t send it till you’ve had a chance to review it in the light of day. We can almost guarantee that you’ll make changes that you’re glad you had the opportunity to make.

Your best strategy is to give it a rest. Make it a rule to NEVER send an email message when you should be sleeping. Your career, your co-workers, and your employees will be all the better for it.