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What works well for me is configuring my work email account but keeping it switched off on my phone, and setting chat to notify on directs and mentions only. I

What works well for me is configuring my work email account but keeping it switched off on my phone, and setting chat to notify on directs and mentions only. If for some reason I need it, I can easily switch it on. But I haven't needed to do that in years, I simply clear my inbox each morning and periodically through the work day.

redisman 5y ago
Setting boundaries is a huge secret skill. I force people to explicitly tell me that i must do something extra and it almost never happens and I get to work a 35-40h week. Boss messages me to look at something after hours? I won’t read it. If it’s a problem they can explicitly tell me that they expect me to be available at all hours and then we’ll have that discussion. And in that I’ll say that it’s not acceptable for me but I can split my day in two if it’s important for me to be available late in the day. If they want me to do calls at 5am I’ll say it’s doable and then I’ll end my day at 1pm of course
- russelldjimmy 5y ago
  Exactly this. Imagine one Friday evening, your boss says, “We need this to be done by Monday” You - “Monday EOD?” Boss - “Um, no Monday first half” You - “This seems like a whole day’s work, and it’s already Friday. Are you expecting me to work over the weekend to do this?” If they really need this to be done, they will explicitly make the request. You can choose to say “yes” but this also gives you space to follow it up with “but I hope this doesn’t happen too frequently” or “I understand that this is a crunch period and I’d be happy to do extra this one time”. If you say “no”, you can help them figure out alternative arrangements. None of this would be easy without them making the explicit request. In a healthy environment, the explicit request would come without any of these games, but we’re not always blessed to work in such places.

redisman 5y ago

Setting boundaries is a huge secret skill. I force people to explicitly tell me that i must do something extra and it almost never happens and I get to work a 35-40h week. Boss messages me to look at something after hours? I won’t read it. If it’s a problem they can explicitly tell me that they expect me to be available at all hours and then we’ll have that discussion. And in that I’ll say that it’s not acceptable for me but I can split my day in two if it’s important for me to be available late in the day. If they want me to do calls at 5am I’ll say it’s doable and then I’ll end my day at 1pm of course

russelldjimmy 5y ago
Exactly this. Imagine one Friday evening, your boss says, “We need this to be done by Monday” You - “Monday EOD?” Boss - “Um, no Monday first half” You - “This seems like a whole day’s work, and it’s already Friday. Are you expecting me to work over the weekend to do this?” If they really need this to be done, they will explicitly make the request. You can choose to say “yes” but this also gives you space to follow it up with “but I hope this doesn’t happen too frequently” or “I understand that this is a crunch period and I’d be happy to do extra this one time”. If you say “no”, you can help them figure out alternative arrangements. None of this would be easy without them making the explicit request. In a healthy environment, the explicit request would come without any of these games, but we’re not always blessed to work in such places.