I’ll be quite frank from the offset. I haven’t just adopted this ethos today, so Today I’m lying. I adopted it about a year and a half ago when I first stepped onto SLT.
I have never known a working life without emails. They have shaped the very way that I conduct myself in the workplace. I have been advised by more that one line manager that my tone doesn’t read very well over t’interweb. In my defence, I think the reader will always read an email in the mood that they find themselves in as opposed to the manner it is intended. Before you know it “That’s fine by me” can be read in unlimited voices. Go on, try it. Happy, nonchalant, hacked off, passive aggressive, interested, bored. It all fits.
I myself fell foul to the use of the one “I hope that this is read in the manner it is intended”. I wrote this line because a coworker kept misreading my emails, and she was up three flights of stairs, and quite frankly, we always seemed to have a “professional disagreement” on days that I had heels on. Whenever I would get to the top of the stairs to talk to her about it, I would be so out of breath that she felt I was being emotional and on the verge of tears, when in fact I was regretting not putting my inhaler in my pocket. That line resulted in me having to attend a restorative justice meeting with her about how my email made her feel.
Now I already know what my problem is, I’m super passionate in my work, and sometimes when I’m responding to something, it is not always with me in mind, but on behalf of the pupil with no voice, or the parent with limited knowledge or even a staff member who is too scared of rocking the boat to stick up for themselves.
I actually remember the first time I knew work emails were my kryptonite. It was my first real promotion as a behaviour teaching assistant, I moved out of classrooms and into the schools alternative provision unit and apparently turned into a keyboard warrior. I spent a week in there, and wrote a scathing email to the SENCo to let her know all the things that were inefficient and ineffective, including the other behaviour TA in the room and promptly sent it on to her. And by her, I do not mean the SENCo, I mean my co worker. I learnt a few lessons that day:
Always double check who you’ve sent your emails to
Always proofread, there’s nothing like being self righteous and having basic SPAG to pull you down
Do not slate a coworker in any form that can be used as evidence later in a court of law
The recall email function is merely there to let the other person know that you have monumentally effed up and you had zero intention of them reading what you sent
The recall email function does not stop the reader seeing what you have written.
All very valuable lessons for a jumped up 21 year old making her way in the work place after years of protection in university.
So ten years on, and many email run ins later, what have I finally learnt?
Well, 1) If you can say it to someone’s face, there’s more chance it’ll be “recieved in the manner it was intended” and 2) You need to switch off. I actually mean that. SWITCH OFF.
I have two work days. My physical work day (where I am actually in work, teaching, behind my desk or in meetings) and my digital one. It all came from when I was having discussions with coworkers about how we couldn’t sleep because we had received an email from the head at 9pm, and then what ensued was what I can only describe as email tennis, and the aim was to be the one who had the latest timestamp. It got to 2:43am. And then we all wondered why we were in foul moods the next day.
It was like a terrible sleepover, where who ever stayed up latest was deemed the coolest. Except we were expected to function as adults the next day. And thats when I realised how truly ridiculous the concept was.
Just because we could demonstrate that we were sat on emails, didn’t meant we were the most dedicated or even the most productive. It meant we couldn’t switch off, and were more concerned in one upmanship. And what good was that really?
This wasn’t even to mention the anxiety I was starting to get when I switched onto my emails. Emails meant that anyone could get me at any time. When it was 10pm and I was meant to be chilling with my husband, my mood could be changed instantly by an email demanding something from me that I had already done or it easily could have been requested the next day.
So I took back control. The push messaged emails coming directly to my phones with a beep were the first to go. Then I started making use of an out of office message for the holidays. Finally I came up with my self imposed digital work day. And that day is 7am-7pm. I will not look at my emails before or after those times (unless Mr/s O has come a-knocking).
How productive and effective am I being during the work day if I have to work all the hours God sent me? The same stresses will be there at 7am as they are at 5.30am, it just means I get an hour and a half of zen before the hitting of the fan. Staff know that if it’s super important to text or call me, but it makes them think twice about the importance or the communication. The most important thing is, my staff don’t have to think that by emailing me at 1am that they are better workers and hopefully it will readdress their balances and they can use that time more effectively. Like to recharge their batteries.
It works for me. It could work for you. Try it, go get yourself a digital work life, it might just surprise you what your work-life balance begins to look like.