Digital Detox — Dare to Disconnect?

Kathryn Anda
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read

Time to ’fess up. Are you an after-hours email addict?

France’s new “right to disconnect” law has got us thinking. Isn’t it ironic that the country which gave us champagne and croissants has become a champion of moderation? But more importantly: is similar legislation necessary here? And if such legislation were implemented, would it be effective in banishing burnout?

Think about your after-hours email activity. Is checking and responding to emails outside your regular office hours a compulsory part of your job? Or is it just a compulsion? I believe that our modern culture’s “urgency addiction” undermines our efforts to maintain a work/life balance. I worked with a senior executive whose wife would ban his mobile phone from the house when he arrived home at night. He had to leave his phone in the car, so that he wasn’t distracted around his kids. But his wife went looking for him once and found him sitting in his car in the garage checking his emails, simply because he couldn’t stop himself. In other words, it’s going to take more than legislation to encourage email addicts into rehab.

Guilty as charged? Then let’s stage an intervention. I’ve listed a few pointers below about how to kick the habit of compulsive after-hours correspondence. (It’s not quite twelve steps, but it’s just as effective.)

Take a look at your work culture.

Changes in behaviour must come from the top down, I once undertook an analysis of email habits at a large New Zealand corporate a few years ago. They counted the number of emails sent by employees between 5pm one Friday evening and 8am the following Monday morning. And during this one weekend, over half a million emailswere sent. Managers need to think about why they’re emailing employees after hours. If they don’t send a particular email over the weekend, will it really have any significant impact on the business? If it’s urgent, the company policy should be to call the relevant person instead. This way employees know that even if they have received an email, they can assume it’s not urgent and can therefore wait.

Start small.

Don’t try to go cold turkey. I recommend going one night without checking your emails. And then ask yourself: did not checking your emails that evening make any difference at work the next day? Now try switching off on alternate days and build up to disconnecting for an entire weekend. Just remember to schedule time into your calendar to check your emails.

Enlist support.

Conquering your compulsions isn’t easy. Share your plans with a colleague or friend: they’ll help keep you on the straight and narrow and make celebrating your success so much sweeter.

As with any addiction, acknowledging the consequences of your behaviour is an important part of the rehabilitation process. We have to understand that compulsive email checking at all hours has a significant detrimental impact on our well being. And at the same time, it makes little to no difference to our business. Ultimately, it’s not just about having the right to disconnect. It’s about changing your mindset to believe you are right to disconnect.


Originally published at pepworldwide.co.nz on 16th August 2017.

PEPworldwide New Zealand

Inspiration and Information.

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Kathryn Anda

Written by

Managing Director at PEPworldwide NZ

PEPworldwide New Zealand

Inspiration and Information.

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