Sending after-hours emails speed up corporate cultures – and that, in turn, chips away at creativity, innovation and true productivity.

Here’s why you should avoid this practice.

1. Your employees are "always on": Think about that message you'd like to send late at night. Do you intend for your staff to reply to you immediately? Or are you just sending the email because you're thinking about it at the moment, and want to get it done before you forget? If it's the former, you're intentionally chaining your employees to the office 24/7. If it's the latter, you're unintentionally chaining your employees to the office 24/7.

2. Being "always on" hurts results: When employees are constantly monitoring their email after work hours — whether this is due to a fear of missing something from you, or because they are addicted to their devices — they are missing out on essential down time that brains need.

Creativity, inspiration and motivation are your competitive advantage, but they are also resources that need to be recharged. Incidentally, this is also true for you, so it’s worthwhile to examine your own communication habits.

To avoid having problems with after-hours communications, be clear about expectations for email and set up policies to support a healthy culture that recognizes and values single-tasking, focus and downtime.

Also, take a hard look at the attitudes of leaders regarding an always-on work environment. The (often unconscious) belief that more work equals more success is difficult to overcome, but the truth is that this is neither beneficial nor sustainable.