Comments on: Guilty, No Question About it. http://stevebellnow.com/2010/03/24/guilty-no-question-about-it/ Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:21:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Steve http://stevebellnow.com/2010/03/24/guilty-no-question-about-it/comment-page-1/#comment-161 Steve Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:56:20 +0000 http://stevebellnow.com/?p=648#comment-161 Brian - you hit on the problem pretty well. From a standpoint of my personal workload, doing some of the work on vacation saves time and effort later. 100% agree! There is much on the smartphone that is not work related... when you open up certain things, you just want to get it done. Sometimes you just need to step completely away and rest.. recharge.. and re-energize.. From a manager standpoint - I think the unconsious setting of the expectation is the problem. I went back and have looked at each individual that reports to me directly; and they are worked on their vacations. I maybe part of a problem, that I don't want to be. Brian – you hit on the problem pretty well.

From a standpoint of my personal workload, doing some of the work on vacation saves time and effort later. 100% agree! There is much on the smartphone that is not work related… when you open up certain things, you just want to get it done. Sometimes you just need to step completely away and rest.. recharge.. and re-energize..

From a manager standpoint – I think the unconsious setting of the expectation is the problem. I went back and have looked at each individual that reports to me directly; and they are worked on their vacations. I maybe part of a problem, that I don’t want to be.

]]> By: Brian L http://stevebellnow.com/2010/03/24/guilty-no-question-about-it/comment-page-1/#comment-160 Brian L Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:37:10 +0000 http://stevebellnow.com/?p=648#comment-160 Interesting that you posted this. Because, last week I did send you an email. A work related one at that. I did see your OOO message and did not not expect a reply, or did I? When you replied, was I surprised? Yes.....and no. Did your reply take away quality time from your wife or did it open additional time this week because you already addressed the issue? Did you complete a task in downtime that would have otherwise been spent doing nothing or perhaps while standing in line or in an elevator? It's about balance. It's about ROI. And yes, managers should be concerned with setting expectations, even if unconsiously. However, you did set a goal. Was your feeling a failure because you did not hit your goal or was it because you did not set the right goal for you? Maybe next time you can set a goal to answer no more than the top 2% of your emails. If that feels good and you hit your goal, stretch it to 1%. If that feels good then go for the real "no work email" goal. If it doesn't feel so good, maybe you hit your sweet spot. That spot will be different for different people and will be different for you dependant upon what you have to put on hold when setting the goal. Would you have felt better or worse had you not answered those emails? Interesting that you posted this. Because, last week I did send you an email. A work related one at that. I did see your OOO message and did not not expect a reply, or did I? When you replied, was I surprised? Yes…..and no.
Did your reply take away quality time from your wife or did it open additional time this week because you already addressed the issue? Did you complete a task in downtime that would have otherwise been spent doing nothing or perhaps while standing in line or in an elevator? It’s about balance. It’s about ROI. And yes, managers should be concerned with setting expectations, even if unconsiously.
However, you did set a goal. Was your feeling a failure because you did not hit your goal or was it because you did not set the right goal for you? Maybe next time you can set a goal to answer no more than the top 2% of your emails. If that feels good and you hit your goal, stretch it to 1%. If that feels good then go for the real “no work email” goal. If it doesn’t feel so good, maybe you hit your sweet spot. That spot will be different for different people and will be different for you dependant upon what you have to put on hold when setting the goal. Would you have felt better or worse had you not answered those emails?

]]> By: Tweets that mention Guilty, No Question About it. | Spin-O-Rama -- Topsy.com http://stevebellnow.com/2010/03/24/guilty-no-question-about-it/comment-page-1/#comment-159 Tweets that mention Guilty, No Question About it. | Spin-O-Rama -- Topsy.com Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:45:46 +0000 http://stevebellnow.com/?p=648#comment-159 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Terry Starbucker, Steve Bell. Steve Bell said: New post: Guilty, No Question About it. (http://stevebellnow.com/?p=648) [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Terry Starbucker, Steve Bell. Steve Bell said: New post: Guilty, No Question About it. (http://stevebellnow.com/?p=648) [...]

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