Table of ContentsTable of ContentsExpandWhat Is “Reply ASAP” Culture?Why Is This Cultural Dynamic Harmful?How Can Employees Improve Their Workplace Boundaries?Improving the Culture Starts With EmployersHow to Discuss Reply ASAP Culture With Your EmployerView All

Table of ContentsExpandWhat Is “Reply ASAP” Culture?Why Is This Cultural Dynamic Harmful?How Can Employees Improve Their Workplace Boundaries?Improving the Culture Starts With EmployersHow to Discuss Reply ASAP Culture With Your EmployerView All

Table of ContentsExpandWhat Is “Reply ASAP” Culture?Why Is This Cultural Dynamic Harmful?How Can Employees Improve Their Workplace Boundaries?Improving the Culture Starts With EmployersHow to Discuss Reply ASAP Culture With Your Employer

Table of ContentsExpand

Expand

What Is “Reply ASAP” Culture?

Why Is This Cultural Dynamic Harmful?

How Can Employees Improve Their Workplace Boundaries?

Improving the Culture Starts With Employers

How to Discuss Reply ASAP Culture With Your Employer

View All

Our society has changed considerably due to the advancements of technology and its influence on our everyday lives. With regards to communication, this is evermore present. For example, we have multiple devices at our disposal — such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops — which keep us connected to our emails and allow for instant messaging.

While it has made life easier and more efficient in many ways, it has also caused the blurring between work and non-workboundaries. Our technology-dependent culture has caused many individuals to be perpetually connected to the outside world, and the workplace is no different.

Due to the advancement of technology, many organizations have moved to conduct their communications on platforms like Slack. As a result, the expectations of a worker’s availability have shifted.

Not only are employees available to their workplace after working hours, but it has also even been reframed as the characteristic of a good worker.As a result, problematic behaviors have been normalized, like checking work correspondences at all hours.

While this shift certainly makes for a more productive society, this demand for workers has been linked to psychological strain and emotional exhaustion. As a result, more research has begun to consider the ramifications of “reply ASAP" culture, which begs the question: what does it mean to lose the time to think?

What Is “Reply ASAP” Culture?

As a result, more Americans find themselves online more than ever. For example, a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that 31% of Americans reported going online constantly.In comparison, only 21% of Americans said the same in 2015. Thus, the increase is bound to continue as our dependence on technology increases too.

Why Is This Cultural Dynamic Harmful?

Reply ASAP culture is the universal acceptance that online presence directly correlates with someone’s availability to work, and its adverse effects are starting to be noticed.

“There are a few negative effects, both mentally and physically, that can occur when employees are lackingwork-life balanceand become victims of ‘hustle culture’,” says Peter Pirano, LMSW, LCDC, LISAC, CEO ofBurning Tree Programs.

“Mentally, many workers’anxietyanddepressioncan increase which could lead to social isolation. Physically, employees can experience aloss of sleepand disinterest in hobbies because they are too focused on work,” he adds.

“People could be sitting in a room full of their loved ones and will be more engaged in their devices because they are still answering emails and messages from work,” he says.

The lack of boundaries creates a vicious circle where employees begin to limit their social activities. This can lead them to feel isolated and unengaged, which leads to increased anxiety.

Peter Pirano, LMSW, LCDC, LISAC, CEO of Burning Tree ProgramsPeople could be sitting in a room full of their loved ones and will be more engaged in their devices because they are still answering emails and messages from work.

Peter Pirano, LMSW, LCDC, LISAC, CEO of Burning Tree Programs

People could be sitting in a room full of their loved ones and will be more engaged in their devices because they are still answering emails and messages from work.

As research shows, an employee’s mental health is a significant indicator of their overall health.For example,stress can contribute to a range of illnesses, like hypertension, cardiovascular conditions, and diabetes. Furthermore, the burnout employees endure can have a knock-on effect on their ability to contribute meaningfully in the workplace. Therefore, it is imperative that people begin to re-establish their work-life boundaries.

How to Recognize Burnout Symptoms

The ramifications of apoor work-life balanceare clear. So what can workers’ do to ensure they maintain good workplace boundaries?

4 Ways Technology Is Secretly Stressing You Out

While workers can fight to create clear work-life boundaries, these are not fixes but coping strategies — the real change starts with employers. “The most impact comes from how a supervisor or business owner sets their expectations early on,” says Pirano.

Not only will this ensure employees are satisfied in their jobs, but it’ll also reduce any anxieties around setting realistic and health-conscious expectations. But what does this look like?

Nevertheless, this type of change is only possible if workers also voice their issues with the demands of their work. It’s only through open and honest communication that we can resolve the burden of reply ASAP culture.

Peter Pirano

How to Discuss Reply ASAP Culture With Your Employer

If your workplace has a rule requiring you to keep your notifications on at all times, it may be best to speak directly with your boss about your concerns.

“You should lay out what you have accomplished in your role and state what you need to continue to be a high-functioning employee,” says Pirano. The conversation should be grounded as a cost-benefit analysis, saying, ‘this is what I need, to keep providing this level of work.'"

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ollier-Malaterre A, Jacobs JA, Rothbard NP.Technology, work, and family: digital cultural capital and boundary management.Annu Rev Sociol. 2019;45(1):425–447. doi:0.1146/annurev-soc-073018–022433Piszczek MM.Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology use at the work-family interface: Boundary Control or Controlled Boundaries?J Organiz Behav. 2017;38(4):592–611. doi:10.1002/job.2153Barber LK, Santuzzi AM.Please respond ASAP: workplace telepressure and employee recovery.J Occup Health Psychol. 2015;20(2):172–189. doi:10.1037/a0038278Lee DJ, Joseph Sirgy M.Work-life balance in the digital workplace: the impact of schedule flexibility and telecommuting on work-life balance and overall life satisfaction. In: Coetzee M, ed.Thriving in Digital Workspaces: Emerging Issues for Research and Practice. Springer International Publishing; 2019:355–384. doi:10.1007/978–3–030–24463–7_18Pew Research Center.About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online.Rajgopal T.Mental well-being at the workplace.Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2010;14(3):63–65. doi:10.4103/0019–5278.75691

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ollier-Malaterre A, Jacobs JA, Rothbard NP.Technology, work, and family: digital cultural capital and boundary management.Annu Rev Sociol. 2019;45(1):425–447. doi:0.1146/annurev-soc-073018–022433Piszczek MM.Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology use at the work-family interface: Boundary Control or Controlled Boundaries?J Organiz Behav. 2017;38(4):592–611. doi:10.1002/job.2153Barber LK, Santuzzi AM.Please respond ASAP: workplace telepressure and employee recovery.J Occup Health Psychol. 2015;20(2):172–189. doi:10.1037/a0038278Lee DJ, Joseph Sirgy M.Work-life balance in the digital workplace: the impact of schedule flexibility and telecommuting on work-life balance and overall life satisfaction. In: Coetzee M, ed.Thriving in Digital Workspaces: Emerging Issues for Research and Practice. Springer International Publishing; 2019:355–384. doi:10.1007/978–3–030–24463–7_18Pew Research Center.About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online.Rajgopal T.Mental well-being at the workplace.Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2010;14(3):63–65. doi:10.4103/0019–5278.75691

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Ollier-Malaterre A, Jacobs JA, Rothbard NP.Technology, work, and family: digital cultural capital and boundary management.Annu Rev Sociol. 2019;45(1):425–447. doi:0.1146/annurev-soc-073018–022433Piszczek MM.Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology use at the work-family interface: Boundary Control or Controlled Boundaries?J Organiz Behav. 2017;38(4):592–611. doi:10.1002/job.2153Barber LK, Santuzzi AM.Please respond ASAP: workplace telepressure and employee recovery.J Occup Health Psychol. 2015;20(2):172–189. doi:10.1037/a0038278Lee DJ, Joseph Sirgy M.Work-life balance in the digital workplace: the impact of schedule flexibility and telecommuting on work-life balance and overall life satisfaction. In: Coetzee M, ed.Thriving in Digital Workspaces: Emerging Issues for Research and Practice. Springer International Publishing; 2019:355–384. doi:10.1007/978–3–030–24463–7_18Pew Research Center.About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online.Rajgopal T.Mental well-being at the workplace.Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2010;14(3):63–65. doi:10.4103/0019–5278.75691

Ollier-Malaterre A, Jacobs JA, Rothbard NP.Technology, work, and family: digital cultural capital and boundary management.Annu Rev Sociol. 2019;45(1):425–447. doi:0.1146/annurev-soc-073018–022433

Piszczek MM.Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology use at the work-family interface: Boundary Control or Controlled Boundaries?J Organiz Behav. 2017;38(4):592–611. doi:10.1002/job.2153

Barber LK, Santuzzi AM.Please respond ASAP: workplace telepressure and employee recovery.J Occup Health Psychol. 2015;20(2):172–189. doi:10.1037/a0038278

Lee DJ, Joseph Sirgy M.Work-life balance in the digital workplace: the impact of schedule flexibility and telecommuting on work-life balance and overall life satisfaction. In: Coetzee M, ed.Thriving in Digital Workspaces: Emerging Issues for Research and Practice. Springer International Publishing; 2019:355–384. doi:10.1007/978–3–030–24463–7_18

Pew Research Center.About three-in-ten U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online.

Rajgopal T.Mental well-being at the workplace.Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2010;14(3):63–65. doi:10.4103/0019–5278.75691

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