Having your work email on your phone is the worst

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/16/2015 at 16:57 • Filed to: None

Over the years, I have resisted the urge to put my work email on my phone. I just don't like it, and don't have much use for it. Today, I tried putting my work email on my phone, and I hate it. Who can live this way?

I occasionally will pull up Outlook Web Access in Chrome on my phone. But until today, it was always the desktop version of OWA, with teeny tiny text that mimics a simplified version of the Outlook desktop app. Today, I got a nice slick mobile version of Outlook Web Access which actually worked quite nicely. I'm assuming because my company updated to a new version of something.

I then googled "outlook web access android" to see if there was a way to get notifications on my phone, and turns out Microsoft has a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , that requires your company being on the latest version of Office 365. I installed it, set up my account, and it works fine. So I guess they did upgrade.

Now, every stupid little thing in Outlook that dings at me from my computer, dings on my phone too. And honestly, I don't want to be notified of whatever work BS when I'm not at work. Call me old-fashioned, but I think there should be a balance between work and life. If I'm not at work, I don't want anything to do with work (aside from the fact that since I'm the manager who lives closest to the office, I'm at the top of the phone tree if the alarm goes off).

So I'm going to turn off notifications and let people keep thinking I don't have my work email on my phone. I can get at it if I need to.

DISCUSSION (19)

wkiernan > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:00

I had that on my new work phone for two days. It was a bit of a hassle to get it off the phone, too.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:01

I have my work email on my phone, but with notifications muted. I only check it occasionally, anyway.

Happy Panda > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:03

I recently got the new BlackBerry (Passport) and love the email on it. I got an app which allows me to completely customize the LED and vibration/sound settings. I don't use any email on the desktop anymore, so no pop-ups and when I have the phone in my pocket because I'm busy with other stuff I can honestly say I didn't see the message. Love it :-)

HammerheadFistpunch > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:04

Same software, same boat...and I refuse to do it. They will even pay my phone bills but its not worth the dotted line in my personal life.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:12

Since I'm my own boss I'd say work mail on phone is the best thing EVER :P

Textured Soy Protein > Happy Panda
01/16/2015 at 17:12

The actual software in and of itself is fine. It works. I just hate being connected to work more than necessary. Some people just go on their work email at all hours of the evening and respond to stuff. Me? I'll see it when I show up in the morning.

I'm all for separation of work and life.

Textured Soy Protein > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
01/16/2015 at 17:14

I disabled notifications. Only took a couple hours of everything dinging on my pc and phone for me to get pissed at the extra notifications on the phone.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:20

On my HTC I can set up enterprise in my overall accounts, then I can choose how and what comes through. so much better than my piece of crap work phone.

Textured Soy Protein > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
01/16/2015 at 17:28

I had a job a couple years ago where I also put my work email on my phone, and immediately disabled notifications when I set it up. My mistake today was setting it up and leaving notifications turned on.

jariten1781 > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:29

Yeah...it's awful.

For the past 5 or so years we've been issued blackberries and I was totally fine with that. I could be 100% connected to our enterprise systems when I needed to and I could leave the thing in a drawer when I wanted to disconnect.

About 8 months ago they decided that maintaining the BB infrastructure was no longer cost effective and instituted a BYOD policy. Now my normal stuff and work stuff is commingled and it drives me nuts. Disabling and reenabling notifications is a monstrous hassle compared to having or not having a device on me. I have to have them enabled overnight because I'll get operations updates calling me in sometimes. I forget to turn them off. The app we have to use (GOOD app) has a tendency to alert over other things I'm doing obnoxiously. No phone number is associated with it so now I have to parse whether an incoming call is a work or personal call before answering. It sucks.

I'm considering just getting another phone...but that's money out of my pocket and so far I'm not doing it out of principal.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:43

Let me tell you about my new predicament:

As a result of a chain of unfortunate events, we had to make the decision to relieve one of our most tenured and senior employees of her duties. By most tenured, I mean 28 years approximately. We shall call her Bertha. When a member of Bertha's team left the company, for whatever reason, that person's email was forwarded to Bertha. All those people over the course of her tenure, plus the amount of emails that a President of a national company gets were a lot. Now, having let Bertha go, her emails are now forwarded to me. So on top of my (on average)125 emails a day plus calendar alerts and invites, I now get all of Bertha's and those of employees past. My count yesterday between emails, invites and alerts was somewhere around 800. THAT'S JUST YESTERDAY! And with us being on everything Apple and everything syncing seamlessly, I was forced to turn off my phone alerts after about, oh, the first 10 seconds.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 17:55

I just have rules set on my phone that between 6:00PM and 8:00AM, it does not notify me if mail shows up in my Exchange inbox.

I make the on-call loonies call me if they want to raise me at odd hours. $500/hour minimum 3 hour charge tends to deter that...

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 19:00

Don't do it. I deleted the email client with my work email on it from my phone. Best decision ever. I used to always have it, and even if I had my notifications muted I would still feel the urge to go check mail when I wasn't in office.

Now I just have the outlook web client as a bookmark in Chrome, for access when I absolutely truly need it - but outside of that, I'm completely removed when I'm not at work. Also allows me to use this cool unlock feature on my phone which wasn't secure enough for the app-based email client.

If only there was a way to get my work calendar over to my phone though, without the email piece - THAT would be nice, I miss having the meeting reminders.

NJAnon > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 21:10

Today, I tried putting my work email on my phone, and I hate it. Who can live this way?

lol Welcome to the rest of the workforce AtlasM. Seperate work from home? Those days are long gone in some jobs. Most people live that way for a long time. Because if they don't, they can take a pink slip and someone else can take their job and be miserable getting notified of work emails at home. :P

The Compromiser > Textured Soy Protein
01/16/2015 at 22:21

Worse is having a company phone with company email. Any hour, anytime, anywhere. Manditory scheduled vacation? Conference call. Many of them. You know about it so you get to call in.

Electronic leash. And don't talk about an off button. It isn't recognized as an option.

JGrabowMSt > Textured Soy Protein
01/17/2015 at 20:41

I added my work email as an exchange email on my phone (regular email app instead of gmail). I don't actually have other access to my work email during the day (no company computer yet), so it's passable. I'm a new hire, so people aren't looking for me, and 99% of my communication in the company is me actually going to whoever I'm looking for because they need to come back to my office and make a decision about what needs to be done.

I'm also a department of one (I was hired to create a workflow and establish the fabrication department), so if I have to hunt someone down, it's because the plans I was given are either wrong, or inventory gave me something extra. Neither of those situations are to be handled over email.

Could be worse, and it's nice knowing when I leave, my work can't follow me home at all. The emails being on my phone simply mean if something does come my way, I know quickly.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein
01/17/2015 at 21:11

I have a phone. I have a work. Work pays exactly zero dollars of my phone (or service), and gets exactly zero access to it.

Also, if you have Microsoft Exchange on your phone, your company has the power to shut down and or wipe your phone...

Textured Soy Protein > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/18/2015 at 00:16

I don't have it set up as an actual Exchange account. I use the Outlook Web Access app.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein
01/19/2015 at 09:36

Yeah, I just pull mine up through the browser if I really need to check it.