Today, most of us are displaying symptoms of being time-starved. Feeling constantly tired, groaning at the thought of another meeting, and struggling to keep up with our inboxes - the biggest time thief of all.
We’ve forgotten how emails revolutionised communication, enabling faster responses and better services for our customers. Time is money, so anything that can be done faster and more efficiently has to be a good thing. Initially, it felt great to keep on top of emails in the evenings, weekends and holidays, making us feel in control. Twenty years on and emails are now beasts to be tamed. Bosses, peers, teams, customers… everyone expects an immediate response and if they don’t get one they chase it up with another email!
Research indicates businesses lose $650bn a year due to unnecessary emails, with the average worker costing their employer an annual $10,000 because of distractions such as emailing. Constantly dipping in and out of emails increases distractions and reduces the ability to concentrate. From a neuro-scientific view, our brains aren’t wired to multi-task: we perform better if focusing on one thing at a time. Other detrimental effects include the inability to build rapport with our work colleagues; no one makes the time to talk with each other - unless they’re chasing an email, of course!
Emails have created addictive behaviour - stressing out ‘in case I miss something’ and so it calls for a radical change. Some organisations are doing just that and banning internal email. What can you do at an individual level?
Try an email detox for one day of the week. Set up an auto-respond that explains what you’re doing and provides a number to call.
Raise the bar on the detox - do it for a week.
Set up a permanent auto responder that says you will only reply to external emails.
If these leave you feeling cold turkey, start with some simple boundaries:
No emails from 10am to 4pm. Pay a forfeit if you break this rule to a chosen charity.
When you’re at home, switch off your mobile.
If all else fails, set up a self-help group: “12-step email addiction recovery programme”.
By taking control of emails you’ll gain extra time, reduce stress and increase how much you achieve each day.
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