Be honest: how often do you check your email every day? 10 times? 20 times? 50 times? If you’re like most people, you check it first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and multiple times throughout the day.
We all fall trap to the draw of email and the connection it brings. After all, it’s how business gets done. But email can be draining and a huge time and energy waster if you find yourself constantly updating and hoping for a new message.
From time to time, we all need a break from email. If you find yourself sucked into email, try these strategies to break free:
Limit email on your phone. Part of the reason we’re all so addicted to checking email is because we always have it with us on our smartphones. Disabling your push notifications and limiting email access on your phone can rid the temptation and make it so you aren’t so tempted to constantly check your email.
Only check email once or twice a day. Set a few times to check your email every day, such as 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. That way, you can catch everything that has happened over night or through the day without constantly updating. Be sure to set an auto-response on a line at the bottoms of your emails letting people know when you check your email so they can call or text if there is an emergency.
Don’t check email for a day. Here’s a secret: the world will keep going even if you don’t check you email throughout the day. Take a day, even one day a week, to go without checking your email. Chances are you’ll feel more refreshed and focused, and when you come back to email the next day, things won’t have fallen apart.
Take a break. We’ve become so engrained in checking our email all the time so we can respond quickly. Email has almost become a glorified chat system with messages flying back and forth almost instantly, but we need to sit back and realize that it’s ok if we don’t respond to an email for a few hours or even a day or two. If you have the urge to check email, take a minute to get a drink of water, chew some gum, go for a walk, or find something else to engage with before checking your email. Challenge yourself to see how long you can go between updates—you may be surprised with what else you can accomplish.
Email is an unavoidable part of the business world, but it is important that we don’t let it control us. In many cases, sitting on your email is like watching the pot boil—you may find you get more opportunities or the emails arrive quicker when you aren’t just watching and waiting for them to come in.
Email helps us feel connected and like we are contributing, but there are plenty of other ways to do that. Take the time to walk over to someone’s office to chat in person, call someone on the phone, or chat via video call. There are plenty of ways to stay connected and build relationships that don’t require waiting for an email notification.
Making a few sacrifices and changing your routine slightly can help you manage email better and make your days fuller, richer, and more rewarding.
What do you to do break the email addiction?
Jacob Morgan is a keynote speaker, author, and futurist. You can invite Jacob to keynote your next conference, subscribe to his videos on Youtube, check our his podcast, or subscribe to his newsletter!
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