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If you like to read as much as listen, you can get a transcript of the show right here.

I’m going to admit it right now, I’m not a fan of email. There I said it. But even more, I’m not a fan of late night emails. Now, I don’t check my email late at night but when I do get to them in the morning or the next day and I see that someone has sent me one at 1 in the morning I do stop to wonder ‘why is this person emailing me at 1 AM?’ Does this person really expect me to answer them or do they think I am going to be checking my email at that time. No, I won’t do either because more than likely, I am sleeping. The real issue isn’t the email though. It is the message that we are sending to the people in our lives and on our teams when we are communicating in the wee hours of the morning or late at night and that is exactly what Katie and I talk about on this week’s show.

One of the biggest messages that this sends is that you aren’t taking care of yourself. You are up late or aren’t sleeping at all. If you don’t think your team has these thoughts, just ask them. There aren’t any badges of honor or courage for not sleeping, if that’s what you’ve been expecting. Sleep deprivation has plenty of deleterious affects and you can hear what we’ve had to say about that on Episode 22 right here. The research is clear that lack of sleep decreases our cognitive abilities and also makes us fat. So, double whammy. And, if you are one of those people who trie to tell me you only need four hours of sleep but you dose off in meetings or at your kids piano recital, guess what? You need more sleep. The other message you’re sending is that you’re inefficient and can’t get your work done during normal hours. Yep, it’s true. Probably most important however is the cultural impact that this can have on our organizations and our teams. Our behaviors send a message whether we like it or not that go way beyond the content of that email. If you really want to know the cost and impact of email on an organization, just listen to the show. We look forward to getting your comments…but during normal hours please.