Low-performing employee consistently sends emails at 2 AM to prove he's working hard, manager is skeptical

JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor

Jun 24, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Sending emails in the middle of the night isn't always a sign of working hard.

When you're struggling at work, this can happen for a lot of reasons. Maybe there are things happening in your personal life that are out of your control but make it hard to focus on work. Or maybe there are expectations that your manager holds that are just too high. Maybe you're not collaborating well with the people on your team. Or maybe it's just not the right fit. The manager in this story shared to the managers subreddit didn't know exactly why their employee was struggling, but he needed help in trying to deal with it. You don't want to ambush someone with criticism, so you are probably looking for ways to soften the blow. But what about their work habits is the most important to address? The manager in this story noticed something weird with their employee, but they weren't quite sure how to make it right, or why it was happening in the first place. Everyone has different relationships to time management, but there are certain things that you should probably avoid doing, especially in certain fields. Answering emails super late into the night doesn't always mean that you're giving it your all and going above and beyond. It might just mean that you're managing your time poorly. That's what was happening to this employee.

via Vitaly Gariev

An exhausted man puts his head on his desk at his workplace
Low-performing employee sending emails in middle of night.

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It's pretty hard to hide from your manager. They have access to all your performance metrics, and if something looks wrong, they're going to know it. This employee was trying to mask his poor performance with some improper communication. He thought it would make him look like a hard worker, but in reality it made things even more suspicious. It's good to keep regular working hours so you can respect everyone's time. You don't want to inconvenience the people you work with by forcing them to comply with your strange habits. But that's what was happening here. Keep reading to see what happened and see what you think about it.
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