It occurred while I was enjoying my birthday celebration dinner with my family. My youngest daughter is spending the summer in Buffalo and, thus, could not be at the dinner with us. During the meal, I stole a quick glance at my phone looking for the text message from her that I knew I coming. Instead, I saw a snippet of an email from a client which began, “Rona, I am upset. . .”

I looked at the email unsure what to do. I knew that, if I opened it and read it, I would feel obligated to answer;distracting me from my dinner with my family. On the other hand, if I did not read it, would I still be distracted, wondering what it said?

In that moment, would you have opened the email? Do you have guidelines for yourself about reading emails after working hours?