I have an addiction. I can’t stop checking my email inbox. All day, every day, I click and see what’s new.
I delete 90% of what comes in, but that still leaves me with a lot of messages to respond to or think about or flag for future action.
True, that’s the nature of email, but when you process your inbox every hour, or several times an hour, you get distracted from other things you’re working on, or should be working on.
A lot of rabbit holes find their entrance in your email inbox, don’t they?
I know I’m addicted and not just busy because when I’m not checking email, I’m thinking about it. Which drives me to check again.
I’ve got notifications turned off, and that helps. But like Pavlov’s dog, I’m already conditioned. Whenever I’m in front of my computer or I have my phone in hand, I click and check.
No matter what else I’m doing, there’s always a bit of underlying tension in my body as I feel the urge to click something.
Enough is enough. Recently, I decided to break my addiction.
I set up two rules for myself:
- I keep the browser tab closed. To check Gmail, I have to open a new tab. By making it a deliberate act instead of a reflexive one, I give myself a moment to consider what I’m doing.
- I treat processing email as a task and schedule it. Once in the morning, once in the evening.
How’s it going?
I’m having withdrawal systems, that’s for sure. I had to break my rule once because I was waiting for something to come in and if I waited until the evening to check, I wouldn’t have had time to handle it.
But once I’m used to this new schedule, I think my brain will thank me for giving it some time off.
On the other hand, it might demand that I change the rules so I can check my inbox 3 times a day.
Most people check their email often. Which is one reason email is so effective for marketing legal services
