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Do you feel guilty if you don’t respond within an hour? Nor during the day. Strategies are needed to free yourself… and work.
That’s one WhatsApp/Instagram/Messenger notification too many. Sender? This customer whose email you already received the previous day. The request is the same. he probably thinks that by “doubling” his message to your instant messaging service, he will get a faster response. In fact, these “little messages” that are sent “just to get to you” put pressure and disrupt our work, interrupting us from often more important tasks. As long as they multiply, and with them the number of push notifications on our smartphone screen… And we quickly feel surrounded. Continuation: Muted. This feeling is not trivial. “A simple question from a Slack colleague can give us a real sense of urgency,” says Sandra Fiyodo, creator of Conscious Cultures, a consulting and coaching firm that aims to combine professional and personal ambitions (1). With overload, the brain has difficulty distinguishing between a message received in Team, which we have to respond to as soon as possible, and a life emergency.” Good news. You don’t have to suffer from it, and some strategies can be used to protect yourself from it.
Redefine L:“Emergency
When the message increases the pressure, the right reflex to adopt is absolutely basic: take a breath. “If you feel too ‘alert’, doing five minutes of cardio allows the brain to rest to think more rationally,” emphasizes the trainer. Then we realize that requests from colleagues, customers, but also friends, parents of students, etc. via instant messaging, you don’t have indeed needs an immediate response.
Assume to disappoint
You still need to be able to let go of the fear of being judged by others. Some may internalize the idea that not responding quickly means being disappointing or untrustworthy. “It’s not like that,” reassures Sandra Fiyodo. We are simply not designed to keep pace with the tools available to us. It is physically impossible to respond to all requests while still performing our daily tasks.” To realize this, we can ask ourselves: a quick but incomplete answer is better than an accurate answer that we’ve had time to think about. If we choose the second option, we can come to terms with ourselves and deconstruct our image of the reactive professional.
Team unit
After introspection, the topic is discussed as a team. Whether you’re a manager or an employee, it’s good for everyone to talk about the discomfort and irritation caused by instant messaging. “Probably, we will not be the only ones who will feel in trouble, because this problem actually affects everyone,” assures the coach. Such a conversation can even lead to a collective brainstorm. What does it mean to be a good professional in our team? We can recognize that the number one criterion is not responsiveness. More specifically, we can then develop operational rules; What do we consider “urgent”? What kind of response time do we expect depending on each communication channel (email, SMS, call, etc.)? The key is knowing the expectations of others and being able to express your own.
Temper the expectations of others
“No one will blame you for anything if they know what to expect,” says Sandra Fiyodo. It is therefore important that you are able to inform your colleagues, customers or people close to you about the scope or operating rules that apply to you. Many people do this very well when they go on vacation with an out of office email. “We can absolutely use this method every day in our instant messaging,” the coach invites. For example, adding a description to our account such as “I only check my messages once a day, thank you for your patience” or “my reply time is this many days”. In this way, we offer our interlocutors a clear vision of a reasonable period of time to return to us.” Once this framework is in place, there will no longer be shame in turning off app notifications, nor options that allow us to track our availability or see if we’ve “seen” messages on our phone. This technique is often used by people who travel a lot and work across time zones. Don’t hesitate to get inspired!
(1) Sandra Fillaudeau is also the creator of Les équilibristes (podcast and newsletter).
Source: Le Figaro
