@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ One hill I tend to die on[^email-culture] is the misapprehension that "send late
There is no situation in which sending your email with a delay makes any positive impact, and there is a situation (the recipient has some urgent issue or problem during out-of-office hours that your email could have helped with) where it makes a negative impact. Not to mention the (small, but non-zero) cognitive load that the sender has to expend remembering timezones[^timezone-adaptation] and whether this should be delayed or not[^not-hypocritical].
"_But Jack,_" so the counter-argument goes, "_you're committing the classic engineer fallacy of only considering the systematic mechanical interactions, and forgetting the personal and political! If a subordinate receives an email from their superior while out-of-office, they feel pressured to reply to it! Sending emails during out-of-office times is putting unfair pressure on recipients to reply!_". To which I say..........what the fuck? _Seriously_?
* FIRST OF ALL, why the hell are you checking your work email while not working? Look up what a Work-Life Balance is, and get one! Don't let work consume your life - work hard and focus while working, but leave it behind when you're not! Did you know that the French [passed a law making it illegal for businesses to require their employees to be available for work-related communication outside designated work hours](https://mymodernmet.com/french-law-bans-workplace-communication-after-work-hours/)? As an Englishman, I am obligated to never approve of the French; but damn they know how to stick up for workers.
"_But Jack,_" so the counter-argument goes, "_you're committing the classic engineer fallacy of only considering the systematic mechanical interactions, and forgetting the personal and political! If a subordinate receives an email from their superior while out-of-office, they feel pressured to reply to it! Sending emails during out-of-office times is putting unfair pressure on recipients to reply!_". To which I say.........._seriously_?
* First of all, why are you checking your work email while not working? Look up what a Work-Life Balance is, and get one! Don't let work consume your life - work hard and focus while working, but leave it behind when you're not! Did you know that the French [passed a law making it illegal for businesses to require their employees to be available for work-related communication outside designated work hours](https://mymodernmet.com/french-law-bans-workplace-communication-after-work-hours/)?
* Secondly, even if through some odd confluence of situations you happen to become aware of a work email outside of work time, why do you feel pressure to reply to it? Either your boss understands that personal time is personal time, and that they only have a right to your time when you're being paid for it[^overtime-exists]; or they don't understand that, in which case you should be using your spare time to _look for another position_. And if you're a manager who believes that such a culture exists in your team, then you'd damn sure better be doing your best to oppose it by including an email signature stating that you only expect replies during work hours, and actively checking up on anyone who replies outside work hours to make sure they knew it wasn't expected.
So - the problem isn't the email timing, it's the culture. If your work culture expects that emails will only be read and replied to within work hours, then everything becomes simpler and easier - you can send whenever you want, without worry that you'll be pressuring someone. If your work culture expects emails to be replied to immediately 24/7, then the time and energy you spend piddling about with "Send Later" would be better spent on changing that culture to something healthier.
