PROBLEM: YOU’RE AIMING
FOR ZERO
SOLUTION: LEARN TO PRIORITISE
Do you insist on clearing out
your inbox every single day? The
problem here is that there’s no
finish line, because as soon as
you look away, the messages start
piling up again. The glory of an
empty inbox may be thrilling but,
ultimately, it’s short-lived.
Instead, make a list of the top five
people who deserve your attention,
and commit to responding to
them within 24 hours. Go one
step further by using three folders
labelled ‘Today’, ‘End of Week’ and
‘End of Month’ to help prioritise
which emails need to be dealt with
first. The rest can wait.
PROBLEM: YOU LOVE
REWARDS
SOLUTION: FIND THEM
ELSEWHEREIn her book, Unsubscribe: How to
Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions
and Get Real Work Done, Jocelyn
K Glei cites a 1930s experiment
(albeit with rats instead of humans)
which shows how addictive the
random rewards system can be.
Similar to rats pressing a lever to
receive food, we hit that refresh
button in the hopes of seeing a new
email. Most of the time it’s boring
junk mail, but every now and again
there’s an exciting job prospect or
event invitation.
According to Glei, it’s these
random rewards that make us
want to “push the lever again and
again and again, even when we
have better things to do”. Replace
this reward-seeking behaviour
with a daily to-do list, or monthly PROBLEM: YOU ALWAYS
ASSUME THE WORST
SOLUTION: TAKE A STEP BACKWithout body language or tone of
voice to pick up on, the written
word can often be misconstrued.
I spoke to psychotherapist Annie
Cassidy — who works at private
clinic Esher Groves — who says:
“With email, there’s always this
sense that it’s going to be bad
news, and that can be really
overwhelming for people. They
can become obsessed, and check
emails all the time.”
She suggests allowing a cooling
off period before responding,
taking time and space to reflect on
the context of the email. Instead
of allowing email to control your
mood, don’t visit your inbox until
you’re emotionally ready. When do
you feel most calm? Maybe it’s after
lunch, or once you’ve exercised.
Identify this part of the day and
respond to emails during this time. PROBLEM: IT SUCKS ALL
YOUR TIME
SOLUTION: COMMUNICATE
MORE EFFICIENTLYSet a timer and work through your
inbox for an hour each day, then
call it quits. Minimise the email
tennis which can go on for weeks
at a time by picking up the phone,
arranging a Skype call, or simply
walking over to your colleague’s
desk to move things forward. You’ll
be surprised at how quickly things
progress when you have a face-
to-face conversation instead of a
lengthy email thread.goal tracker. Keep your goals in
sight (literally on a noticeboard
in front of you) and work towards
a guaranteed reward, such as an
early lunch break, walk in the
park, or beauty treatment. Every
time you find yourself knee-deep
in pointless correspondence, bring
yourself back to those goals. PROBLEM: YOU FEEL
OBLIGED TO RESPOND
SOLUTION: SET BOUNDARIESIf you receive an email outside
of normal office hours, should
you respond right away? Not
necessarily. According to Annie,
you’ve got to be the one to set yourown boundaries so that people
don’t get the wrong idea. “You need
to identify what you can tolerate,
and when those boundaries can
be stretched. The onus is on you to
monitor your own boundaries.”
Make a rule that you won’t
respond to work emails after
hours, and delete the email app
on your phone at the weekend.
Even better, ask for a designated
work phone that you can switch
off after 5pm. Consider adding
your working hours to the footer
of every email to get the message
across. Oh, and those random
emails from someone you’ve
never met asking for a favour? Get
comfortable with ignoring them
completely.60% of people who
use email for work
check their inboxes
while on holiday