How to Thrive in an “Always-On” Work Culture

How to Thrive in an “Always-On” Work Culture
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For some professionals, being available 24/7 is not only expected, but necessary. A new survey from Mobile Nations found that 70 percent of workplaces now have an “always-on” work culture and still, four out of five email users report not being happy with the response rate they receive. While the “always-on” culture can help professionals tackle large amounts of work, it can also lead to a higher rate of employee burnout and unnecessary stress. In fact, a recent Fuze survey found that 82 percent of employees have responded to work-related emails while on vacation. We all need time to disconnect, but that can be difficult when you’re always worried about missing urgent work messages.

The increased connectedness of today’s communication channels has only propelled this demand by enabling people to conduct business across the globe with the push of a button – regardless of what time zone you’re in. For this reason, it’s not unusual to receive work emails late at night, but it can quickly become problematic if the messages that can wait until the morning are indistinguishable from those that require an immediate response.

Email is an invaluable tool for conducting business, however, it’s been broken for some time now. The following infographic shows just how broken it is, but also, the ways it can be fixed:

Looking at this data, it’s apparent that not only does email itself need to change, but the way we use it needs to change as well. Clear digital communication is lost on many, but by working a few additional details into your emails, this stress can be relieved, and productivity can improve.

Clear expectations

Sending emails with clear expectations on what is desired from the recipient is key to effective communication. A mistake I see all the time is burying urgent information towards the bottom of an email, which leads to important details getting overlooked. With clear expectations at the top of the email, the recipient can see at a glance what kind of response is needed and when.

Priorities

Everyone has their own way of organizing their inbox and prioritizing tasks. For me, I find that organizing my inbox in a daily to-do format helps me tackle all of my urgent tasks without feeling overwhelmed. By organizing everything based on the due date, I can see how busy each day will be and schedule meetings accordingly.

Reminders

By utilizing an email solution like Timyo, you can be track your emails and see reminders for when something is pending or overdue. It helps me tremendously, as I can quickly look to see if any of my requests are overdue and have the peace of mind that comes with knowing I’m not missing a deadline. A common trend for those with an “always-on” work culture is responding to every email immediately, which can cause interruptions in your personal life. Trust me; nobody wants to have dinner with someone who is constantly checking their phone and going back and forth on email. If it can wait, it should wait.

The key to surviving an “always-on” work culture is to change the way you communicate with your colleagues and clients. Through using Timyo, my colleagues and I respect each other’s time by stating whether a response is needed immediately or if it could wait until a later date. At the heart of it, this is all about respecting everyone’s time and communicating with clarity. Not only will it improve morale, but having a well-rested and efficient team will also increase overall productivity.

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