Mindful emails
How many interactions do we make with our emails? How fast did the communications turn?
I remember about 26 years ago when I officially started working at my current company we still didn't have a PC.
In the Argentina office we only had the fax at that time so in the morning when you arrived at the office there were meters of paper lying on the floor with messages from our people and customers, it was quite impressive. Then we had to cut them to be able to organize them, distribute them physically to recipients, write a letter on the typewriter, and send it back.
While I'm writing, I feel a little old like a dinosaur, but even if it doesn't seem like that it was only about 2 decades ago and it's even more impressive how we were able to get the job done when we see all the facilities we have nowadays.
Currently when I speak with our employees, with other business leaders, customers or companies associated to analyze what this change brought about, there is no exception or discrepancy: everyone is happy to have e-mail available for the speed of communication, but at the same time it generates stress and discomfort because everyone is under the impression that the right time to respond is now. This gives the feeling that everyone is behind with their emails as we tend to think that we must be connected all the time just to avoid missing something, that is not real as no one misses anything if you go back a bit to the good old days in this regard.
What science has discovered about emails is that the act of reading emails is and can become an addiction.
The fact is that although we are not interested in the content of each email that receive, many of us are addicted to the act of checking our inbox. This activates a primary drive in our brains to seek out what behavioral psychologists call "random rewards." Check email can release the pleasure hormone dopamine: the same hormone that is released during sex, gambling and drug use. That is why you often feel the need to answer the last email of the day, or check if there is anything else to reply to, undermining your time for yourself, family and friends.
Just look at yourself right now and think about when was the last time you checked your inbox… surprised?.
In North America, surveys recently showed that 1 in 3 Americans are logged into their inbox throughout the day.
Every 5 to 7 minutes and more than 60 times a day, they may be looking at your inbox, which means, at the same time, that you are multitasking and distracted by your inbox all the time. This for sure is not a conscious way of working.
As I mentioned in my previous posts, multitasking is a great source of distraction with long-term consequences of stress and also a decrease in the quality of your work.
But then what can we do to avoid this bad behavior at work while we are able to increase our performance but with less stress?
Let me tell you some things you can do from now on for free, but with a great reward for your stress level.
Turn off notifications on your phone and be sure to assign one or two dedicated time slots per day to check emails and nothing else. A good practice will be do that very early before starting work, and then before you leave. Also turn off notifications for all the other things you have today, and it will help reduce your anxiety even more. Don't worry if you're not answering the last email just arrived, the important thing is that you do it at one or two fixed times of the day.
Be mindful of your free time, leave your phone in the locker when you are at the gym and focus on your sport.
Don't take your phone to your room, leave it outside and go back to the old alarm clock to avoid that last check before going to sleep. The blue light from the screen restarts the production of melatonin necessary to start a good dream.
In case you are a mother/father, put your phone aside while you are with your children. Take the opportunity to play and interact in a focused way, like when you are doing your job at work. Dedicate 100% of the time for them, they will appreciate it very much and you will rest from emails for a while, the same goes for your partner.
Put your phone aside while dining or lunch, in a restaurant or at home with your family, to avoid falling into the trap of checking emails.
Don't take your phone to your vacation place, beach, mountain or river, just leave it at home and check your emails when you decide to do so during your vacation period but not all the time.
Sort your emails into different categories in your inbox, those that are addressed to you and those you have in copy to prioritize their response.
Avoid answering if you are not asked, because you will generate a need for the recipient to answer you.
Help others reduce their email load and avoid CCing people they don't need be involved.
Some companies have adopted the email free day with several results that can be found online, but I think this is something we have to order by ourselves and not let the email Tsunami come upon us. Being aware of the fact and understanding the problem you can already start some of these initiatives from now on. The first few days you will feel a little anxious but in a few days you will feel more relaxed and attentive at work.
I hope you find it useful and you can tell me in the comments if you felt identified and if you apply some of the tips I gave. What you want to share will be welcome!