End Your Email Anxiety

There’s no doubt about it – email causes more grief than just about anything else in our workday. Unfortunately, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We have been grossly exaggerating its importance for so long now that we have become slaves to it. Too much power, time and energy is being given over to this time-sucking monster.

It’s time to put email in its place.

It’s just another communication tool - no different than voice mail or fax.

Constantly checking email is a huge time waster – end of story. Besides, what are you checking for? Are you actually relieved when you see the excess of messages you’ve just received, or does it increase the anxiety factor for you? And when you do check your email, are you even prepared to do anything with them?

I can write articles ad nauseam on how to take control of your inbox, but the first thing you need to do is …

… change YOUR attitude about email.

Honestly, how many of your email messages are actually considered 5 alarm fires? If something was truly urgent and required immediate response, do you think it is likely that it would be sent via email? With no additional follow-up?

Rather than checking for incoming email constantly, try checking once every hour. If the temptation to check constantly is too much for you, then set your email program to check once an hour for you. That way you can merrily go about your business without being interrupted so often.

TURN OFF your email alerts. That way you’re not notified every time you get a message. It’s far too tempting to have a look when you’ve just been advised ‘you’ve got mail.’ Whether it’s a sound or a visual alert, it’s a distraction.

By the way, “I don’t know how to change settings” is no excuse – you can google your question and get easy instructions in a snap. You can thank me later.

It’s time to get serious about improving your email habits, and that means starting with taking control and changing your attitude. Just for today, try NOT checking your email every chance you get. You may find you have less anxiety and you’re actually getting more work done.

Besides, aren’t you just a bit tired of being controlled by your email?

Now, get on with your day!