Great suggestions, Lacey. As for saving those emails to send later (because we all know things happen!), I try to use Outlook’s “Schedule to send” tool. You can compose the email but have it scheduled to be sent at a later time, when you know the recipient will be available.

I also choose to make myself available during non-traditional business hours for my clinicians, as I know they have to see patients during set hours, so aren’t always available during “normal” times for those important grant/funding discussions.

Best,

Tammy L. Jobes, DBA
Phone: 651-229-3992 | Fax: 651-229-1767
Email: xxxxxx@gillettechildrens.com
Research Correspondence: xxxxxx@gillettechildrens.com

Normal Business Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central time
Upcoming PTO 6/19-6/24

From: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org <xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org> On Behalf Of xxxxxx@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 10:36 AM
To: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org
Subject: RE: [RESADM-L] Boundaries as a Research Administrator? (Crowdsourcing Answers)

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Minessa – great topic. I am 100% remote and here are some guardrails I manage for myself:

A highly impactful (and the easiest) change I made several years ago is to turn off the windows notification preview for incoming emails
I do not have email or Teams notifications active on my phone, so that I have to make the conscious choice to check in when I’m away from my desk
On Friday afternoons, I fully shut down my computer and pack up my desk so that it is more or less inaccessible to me
On my calendar:

I block one hour every day for lunch, showing as “out of office” – AND TAKE IT
I block two consecutive hours per day on my calendar as “tentative” and label it as “Desktime” – this is meant to help protect uninterrupted time for active to-do’ing daily; this is a soft boundary in that I do occasionally schedule meetings during this time, but this mostly prevents others from adding meetings to my calendar during those blocks

I try to be especially vigilant about ending meetings on time; if we don’t get to everything we schedule another meeting so that we can continue
I occasionally block entire days from meetings so that I can focus when I’m especially behind or have a complicated task to tackle

The signature line example you gave is fine for protecting other people from feeling like they have to respond after hours, but it still leaves the door open for others to expect a response from you (if they know you frequently work evenings/weekends). So I opt to instead save any emails I write during those times as drafts and send them the next work day.

Best of luck with the article!

Lacey Rhea

Research Administration Manager and Mentor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacey-rhea

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.

From: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org <xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org> On Behalf Of Minessa Konecky
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2024 11:17 AM
To: xxxxxx@lists.healthresearch.org
Subject: [RESADM-L] Boundaries as a Research Administrator? (Crowdsourcing Answers)

I saw a signature in someone’s email on this list the other day that said,

“I work flexibly and may send emails outside normal working hours. I do not expect an immediate response. I choose to work flexibly and often send emails outside normal office hours. I do not expect you to reply to my emails outside of your normal hours.”

I’ve seen others like this, and I was wondering – tactically speaking, what are some actions you take to set boundaries around your time in research administration. In the old days we would shut the door when we wanted to focus, or just not answer the phone, but we're in a different time now, so I am curious to know what fences you’ve put in place in your life to create boundaries between work and Research Administration for an article I am working on for NCURA Magazine.

Please feel free to respond to this email, or you can email me directly at xxxxxx@minessa.com.

Thank you in advance for your help and contribution!

Minessa K

⭐ Minessa Konecky
they/them/theirs
Research Administrator, Minessa InK

Podcast Host, Stop Shoulding All Over Yourself

www.minessa.tv | xxxxxx@minessa.com

PO Box 1526, Plymouth, MA

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