menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Email boundaries don’t work. Try this instead

18 0
04.10.2026

Email boundaries don’t work. Try this instead

Restricting after-hours email sounds like a simple solution to overstuffed inboxes and an infinite workday. But the real problem goes deeper and requires a different fix.

[Source Image: DimaBerlin/Adobe Stock, Bd Artist/Adobe Stock]

BY Petros Chamakiotis, Ward van Zoonen, and Joyce Yu-Hui Lee

Imagine leaving work early to collect your children, then logging back on after they are asleep. At 10 p.m., you send a few emails. You don’t expect anyone to answer until tomorrow, but your colleagues don’t necessarily know that.

Conventional wisdom says the solution is simple: Don’t send email after hours. But if........

© Fast Company