How late is too late to send work emails?

[BumDNC]

I was out all day doing something else for work that was compulsory.
Then I spent the evening with my children and focusing on them etc.
So at 10pm when they were in bed I felt like I should have a look at the emails for the day that I had missed and dealt with a few. To me, it wasn't a big deal, took half hour of my otherwise only watching telly time but now I think people are going to see email sent at 10.44pm and think I am a workaholic nutter!
I admit to thinking the same if I ever see a late work email.

[originalmavis]

I worked sonewhere where the Partners were like children. An email discussion could quickly turn into a bun fight if not nipped in the bud, and trust me, there were one or two who could be very unpleasant indeed.

I found it easier to pitch into the melee early on before blood started to flow, no matter what ungodly hour. Rather that than walk into WW3 in the morning.

I bloody hated my blackberry then!

[blueshoes]

I often do what SarahOoo suggests which is to store them in drafts and send out the next morning. Once people have read it overnight but do not have the ability to respond until the next morning, it sits in their inbox as read and ready to be forgotten. Therefore, better to get into the early morning queue and keep it fresh in their inbox.

Other people (like seriously busy partners) can be easier to get hold of for a response if you send it later at night or on weekends or if they are on holiday. Their inboxes get jammed out throughout the day anyway. An email outside of office hours (if only a quick response is required) would be better.

[Anatidae]

Work in a global team so they are flying around 24 hours a day from one region or another. I wouldn't expect anyone to reply to one out of their time zones work hours but I have sent them at any hour of the day or night. It's just how we work.

[Anatidae]

And it's not unusual to have 4-500 a day :( plus meetings, calls and a shit ton of work. They get their money's worth I can tell you!

[YelloDraw]

I used to just save lots of drafts and then send them all at half eight/nine when I got to the office.

That is a really good idea.

Sometimes I read the emails that come in late, and like PP say I forget about them in the morning - or they are a bit stressful and there isn't anything I can do until the next morning anyway.

Although fr me it would better to get them out a bit earlier than 9 cos lots of people do email sessions over breakfast or on train.

[SnugglySnerd]

We are not allowed to send them after 9pm so that people don't feel obliged to check/respond etc. It's a simple way to help with work/life balance. I'm often in bed by then anyway!

[PedantPending]

One of my colleagues sends mails late at night, but he is a night owl. I send mails very early in the morning, but then I am a lark.
I think it very much depends on what kind of organisation you work in and where the mails are going.

[JigglyTuff]

I have never worked anywhere where there is such a thing as TOIL - you work the hours needed to get the job done.

Given me and my colleagues have often pulled all nighters in the office, there is no such thing as too late (plus often we're working internationally when it all becomes a bit moot)

[DragonNoodleCake]

I wouldn't notice, I work for an international company so get them all night anyway. I check, reply and send when convenient to me.

[BumDNC]

Update is loads of people noticed and questioned why I was working so late. I blamed the email server

[StealthPolarBear]

Some employers treat their staff like children.

[DailyMailSucksAss]

At my work we aren't permitted to send emails that require a same day response after 4pm, and I work in an industry where it's quite common to work 12-16 hour days. If it's urgent you need to call but a post 7pm call is virtually unheard of if you aren't in the office.

[kungfupannda]

I used to have an uber-competitive colleague who used to send emails on Sundays saying something like 'In the office. Does anyone know where [insert x] is?' or 'Just popped in to do a bit of work. Can someone let me know about [insert x] case urgently.' This was in the very early days of mobile devices, and we could get emails forwarded to our home email addresses but we couldn't access our actual work account, so if an email was sent from a work email address, the person was definitely logged in to a work computer, not posting from a phone or similar.

So someone figured out how to do timed emails and we all started sending them at 3am on a Saturday or other ridiculous times, just saying 'Anyone want a cup of tea?' or 'Where's the stapler?' It nearly sent competitive colleague into orbit.

Especially when he dashed into the office one weekend thinking a whole load of us were in, and found he was the only one there. Unfortunately, that did rather blow the whole thing open...

[PuppyMonkey]

I'm self employed so check and send emails whenever I feel like it tbh. I don't evr expect people to respond straight away, but it's sometimes just good to get a question or a comment out while you have it in your head - usually while I'm watching Corrie or something. I'd probably forget otherwise.

[RichardBucket]

When I was an executive assistant I worked for a workaholic man who'd start sending emails at 5am and finish at 1am. If I replied to them outside of my working hours he would write back, "Why are you working? Don't check emails in the evening!"

He was a nice man to work for but I have no idea when he slept!

[BumDNC]

My boss freaks out when she gets my out of office (as in I am on leave she ok'd) and immediately texts me to see if I am ok

[earlyrise]

I spent years and years sending late emails because I really thought it made me look so diligent. I've totally changed now. I'm very strict with myself. I don't even look at my email after 6pm, even though my boss is bashing them out well into the evening. That's my time and I'm not being paid for it. Time is worth so much more than money (to me).

[Ameliablue]

Well I've had work emails sent at 4 in the morning

[WLF46]

Usually it's the opposite, people deliberately sending emails as late as possible to make it look like they've been hard at work all evening. (Perhaps they have, but "hard at work" at a couple of bottles of wine and a box set on the telly.)

[Lweji]

10 pm doesn't look like a mad workaholic.
Something like 2am would.

[dizzygirl1]

Dd was ill yesterday early hours so i was sending work emails at 4 and 5am. Can't see any issues with it really

[mygorgeousmilo]

Work emails I wouldn't bat an eyelid, I'd rather get them done the Friday night so as to not seep into the weekend, and would think the sender felt the same. Try getting a constant flurry of psycho PTA/class Rep emails at 1,2, or 3am.... all about a load of annoying nothing! Now THAT makes me think the sender is a nutter

[Foxedme]

Teachers do it all the time. I get lots at that time of night.

But my previous headteacher once rang me while I was visiting my premature baby in NICU whilst on maternity leave...

My gosh was I livid.

[Lifeonthefarm]

I will often stay up through the night and work if I can sleep. When I was pregnant I would often get up about 4 and fire out emails.

I don't expect anyone to email other then when they're at work!!

I ban office staff having their work email on their phone. They can log on remotely if they wish to, but it's a slippery slope having them on your phone constantly.

We have a wedding venue so it's not unusual to get manic emails in the wee hours.

I am also my most productive at peculiar times so I would rather play with my baby all afternoon and then work after he goes to bed.
I like the flexibility of modern technology in terms of being able to do my work anywhere and at any time.

[haveacupoftea]

6pm should be the cut off, nothing worse than feeling you have to check your emails all evening in case your crazy boss has decided to yap about something at 11pm.