Every summer, I receive an email from a European colleague out on annual leave. They ask me to do some kind of work, while they are out of the office.
No problem.
While they lay about in the sun, I'm slaving away in a sometimes air-conditioned & sometimes not an air-conditioned workspace.
Somehow, this makes me happy, knowing that folks have balance.
However, I become grumpy, really grumpy, when I reply to the e-mail, & they have an autoresponder set up that they are out of the office.
Note, I don't mind these autoresponses if I initiate the conversation. I revert to this vision of friends laying happily in the sun & find comfort in their joy.
However, if you've initiated the conversation, & chosen to work that day, then turn off the autoresponder. It's flat-out rude to your recipients.
Why?
Because what is meant to be a courtesy, interrupts my workflow, takes up cognitive energy, & requires me to delete messages.
I'm glad that you are enjoying a holiday; but, it does not mean that you have to make my workday just that tiny bit more taxing.
Yes, I'm being prickly.
I am even grumpier when an author emails me an inquiry about their paper.
As a volunteer editor, I welcome inquiries about the status of the paper - no problem - I try to reply within 24 hours.
When I get an autoresponse that an author is out of the office & may not respond in two weeks - I want to jump out of my chair!
Why are you emailing me? If you aren't working? Is it really that urgent?
Likely not.
I take some solace in visions of cloudbursts & tornadoes plaguing these folk's holidays.
I grow grumpiest when I receive an autoresponse that states an end date, that is days or weeks past the end date.
If someone is going to the trouble to set up an autoresponse, that is going to clutter inboxes around the world, they can do their recipients the courtesy of turning it off.
A simple couple of clicks in the options turns the trick. Your holiday is now over. Need you to remind the world of your time in the sun?
These auto responses remind me of the slide shows that my parent's friends subjected me to as a child - only, I don't get a nice chocolate biscuit to accompany their holiday!
When I receive them, I briefly fantasize about creating a faux autoresponse message for that person for the next month - but can't bring myself to do it - it would be too much like that kid who would scratch their nails on a blackboard as a kid.
While my post is tongue in cheek, there is evidence that suggests causing interruptions in workflow have deleterious effects on others. My students' work shows that interruptions disrupt concentration & create stress in recipients (see https://lnkd.in/eQmMytbm or https://lnkd.in/eAdqewg9).
So my grumpiness is not unwarranted; the science backs it up.
So please! If you take a holiday, take a real holiday! & when home, turn off the autoresponse!
Comments