Reply to post: Re: Not office hours? No contact

This always-on culture we're in is awful. How do we stop it? Oh, sorry, hold on – just had another notification

MachDiamond Silver badge

Re: Not office hours? No contact

" I hate training people but I've spent a hell of a lot of time getting people to stand up for themselves."

You have to stand up for yourself and set boundaries so you aren't abused as an employee, but you also have to stand up for yourself if you are asked to do something that will fail. The reason could be that it violates the laws of physics, but it could also mean there isn't enough time to do the work properly. The employee may also not have access to the tools and materials they need or have the training. We get trained to say "yes" all of the time since "no" is a negative concept. What's doesn't seem to be taught is that "no" can be a positive if it means that finding an alternative is more likely to lead to the desired results.

I work for myself and participate in groups of people that do the same sort of work. Countless times I see people insist that one has to be available at all hours and never hesitate to answer a call. I don't see it that way. I don't want clients calling me late at night and expecting I will pick up. I also want them to understand that if I am working with them, I'm not going to interrupt their job or meeting to take a call. It's important that they learn to leave me a message so I know what they need ahead of time and I will get back to them during normal hours or as soon as I have an opening. One of the things I do is use ringtones to code my calls. I will excuse myself if my mom rings up. She is older and her calling could be very important. My sisters never call so if one does, it might mean an issue with mom. Friends mostly have custom rings and clients have two ring tones; one for the best ones and another for the rest (I don't tell them this). The bog standard default ring usually means a telemarketer, but I'll look at the caller ID if I'm not doing something else.

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