10 Reasons Your Late-Night Emails Are Destroying Your Business

Your head hits the pillow. Your eyes close heavily. You’re ready to fall into a deep sleep.

Then your phone goes off. It’s an email. You check it with one-squinted eye.

It’s kind of an important email from a colleague Now you’re wide awake thinking about work. So much for getting a good night’s rest.

This isn’t just reality for a global workforce. It’s also for the roughly 44% of the global population who owns a smartphone who can’t be separated from their phones. As a result, they’re able to check their emails 24/7. But is this really helping or destroying their business?

In some situations this isn’t exactly a bad thing. Being notified of breaking news, flash sales, or working in certain industries is a plus. For example, white-collar industries—law, consulting, advertising, fashion, media, non-profits, fundraising, politics, and entrepreneurs require constant contacting, pinging, base-touching, and out-reaching.

But as noted in The Atlantic, not every industry requires employees to be so email-intensive. For example, an employee working in retail doesn’t need to get late-night emails from a manager. The exception is if there is an emergency.

To make matter worse? The average business user is expected to receive 140 emails per day by 2018. That’s not even accounting for the 97 average emails received daily.

No wonder we’re getting inbox anxiety.

Again, emails are a part of modern life. It’s expected and can be beneficial. But those constant late-night email? They may actually be destroying your business for the following reasons ten reason.

1. Demands too much screen time.

Sending and receiving those last few late-night emails can leave you feeling even more depleted in the morning. A study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that upper-level managers who used their phones after 9 p.m. experienced decreases in quantity and quality of sleep.

The researchers also found that employees experienced similar sleep problems due to smartphone use. While laptops, televisions, and tablets were also to be blamed, smartphones were the main culprit.

Considering that that 68 percent of people checked work email before 8 a.m., 50 percent checked it while in bed, 57 percent check the phone on family outings, and 38 percent regularly check their phones at the dinner table. Do we really need another reason to be tethered to our smartphones?

2. Shows that you have poor management skills.

As a business owner your mind is never really “off-the-clock.” A question may have popped-up at midnight. You may wake yourself up at 3 a.m. because you forget to assign an important it.

I also get that some people are night owls. And, there will be times when an emergency occurs.

But, constantly sending late night emails shows poor management skills. It suggests that you may lack planning and time management skills. If you were more organized, you probably wouldn’t have to send emails when your team is relaxing.

That’s not to say that you can only send emails between 9-to-5. We all have various schedules. It means you should have probably addressed this earlier in the day.

3. Creates anxiety.

You’re not alone if you’ve ever felt a sense of dread when opening your inbox. Emails leads to anxiety.

"The reason it can feel overwhelming to find lots of emails in your work inbox," Ron Friedman, a psychologist and author of "The Best Place To Work," tells Business Insider, “is that each message represents another demand on your time and another decision you have to make. Even deciphering a generic announcement about the office coffee maker requires effort, which leaves less energy for work that matters."

He explains that the higher amount of demands you have, the more likely you’ll experience stress. This can impact your ability to think and communicate clearly.

"There's no question that constantly checking email is bad for both productivity and quality of life," Friedman adds. "There have been some fascinating studies showing that limiting email-checking to a few times a day. Consider 9 am, 12 pm, and 4 pm. This improves well-being and makes work feel more controllable."

The reason? This creates fewer distractions. Without these distractions, you can progress and feel accomplished.

4. Hurts you and your team’s productivity.

Sending those late night emails harms both you and your team’s productivity. Again, you should be sleeping. If you’re not getting enough quality sleep then you’re not going to be at peak performance levels.

This is because sleep is beneficial to us physically and mentally. For example, it reduces high blood pressure and the risk of stroke. And, it boosts your immune system.

As for your mental health, getting enough sleep improves creativity and decision-making. Mental fatigue can also put you in foul mood. And, it can make you make stressed and anxious.

In short, it’s difficult to get between six and hours of quality sleep a night when you’re receiving email notifications.

5. Prevents your team from unplugging.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a business owner, employee, or customer. We all need time to step away from our computers and mobile devices. In other words, we need time to “unplug.”

There are numerous reasons why this is vital. Besides increasing productivity and improving your mood, unplugging allows us to strengthen personal relationships. It also gives us time to ourselves to enjoy life and recharge the batteries.

When we don’t have this time to “unplug” and “recharge,” we eventually get burned out. That’s not good for business. And, it’s definitely not good for our health.

Sending emails at all hours of the night doesn’t give anyone a chance to take a break from work.

6. Increases the chance of miscommunication.

Late-night communication -- especially when prompted by a sense of urgency -- can lead to miscommunication. This is because you’re probably drowsy and exhausted from a full day of work. As a result, you may be more prone to major typos and grammatical errors that make your email incoherent.

On the other end, if you do receive a response, the respect may also make those same mistakes. Even worse, they may draw the wrong conclusion to a problem since that don’t have all information.

Ultimately, if you don’t want to appear unprofessional, make a note of what you want to say. Then wait to send the email when you’re more alert.

7. Increases unsubscribes.

While employees can’t necessarily unsubscribe from your emails, your customers definitely can.

In fact, 69 percent of users unsubscribe due to "too many emails." There’s no exact figure on how often you should email your customers, but emailing them several times a week late-at-night probably is going to annoy them.

8. Makes others question your personality.

What kind of person believes they can send emails whenever it’s convenient for them? Sure. There are exceptions, like an emergency.

But constantly sending emails at odd hours will raise doubts about your personality. Are you someone who doesn’t respect private time? Do have no disregard for procedures or routines?

Are you a workaholic who expects the same? Why exactly are you awake in the middle of the night? Are you up to no good?

Those who know you may know the truth, but what if you’re working with a new client? It may be a bit overwhelming for them.

9. You may have to pay employees overtime.

“If you have employees who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and they’re working after hours, they’re eligible for overtime even if you’re not telling them to work,” says Peter Capelli, a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “In fact, you have to sort of tell them not to work.

"Even then, if you create a context where a reasonable person might do the work -- like somebody’s sending you an email that says what do you know about this, we got a problem here, and you respond -- that’s working time and you have to pay them for it.”

There was even a lawsuit where salespeople at T-Mobile were expected to answer emails and texts from colleagues and customers outside of regular business hours. T-Mobile eventually settled their claims for overtime pay.

This can be an unexpected, and costly, oversight that could do serious financial damage to your business. Consult your attorney before bombarding employees with emails at all hours.

10. They most likely won't read it until the next day.

A lot of people are wising up. They may place their phones across the room or turn-off notifications so that don’t get woken-up. Other have the willpower to simply not respond because it’s interfering with their private time.

Regardless, there's a very good chance that the email you sent late-at-night is just going to end-up in the unread folder until the next morning. In fact, emails sent in the early morning between six and seven a.m., and around 8 p.m. were the most effective at getting a response. They had reply rates around 45 percent.

Before hitting send on those late-night emails, ask yourself these five questions:

  1. Is it so urgent that it can’t wait until a more approximate time?
  2. Can your team or customers actually change the outcome at this exact moment?
  3. Where does the recipient live? It may be 9 p.m. for you, but it could be midnight for them.
  4. Is this what your employees signed-up for?
  5. Will your life or business cease to exist if you don’t send the email?

In most cases, the email can wait until tomorrow. If you do need to send an email to a colleague, for example, add “For Tomorrow,” in the subject line. This way they don’t feel it necessary to immediately reply.

More importantly, get to know both your staff and customers. This includes knowing their time zones and communication preferences. Some demographics are on the phone late-at-night, while others are fast asleep.
