Are you riding the email rollercoaster?
If you’re like many business professionals, constantly checking and responding to emails, do you realize your brain is on a hormonal rollercoaster, with ups and downs of dopamine and cortisol?
Dopamine, often called the “reward” hormone, gives you that little hit of pleasure when you find a new email or get a quick response. It’s like a tiny high! But here’s the catch: the more you get used to this, the more you crave it, and the more you end up checking your inbox.
Cortisol, on the other hand, is your body’s stress hormone. And guess what? Every time you see an email notification pop up, if you feel pressure to respond right away, your brain can interpret that as a stress trigger.
So, while dopamine might give you a quick thrill, cortisol can leave you feeling anxious or overwhelmed, especially if emails are piling up.
In the long run, this constant up-and-down with your hormones can mess with your mood and your focus, with serious implications.
The Impact of Email on Business Results, Relationships, Health, and Happiness
In a world where our inboxes never seem to rest, the toll of constant email checking goes beyond just the stress it induces – it affects our business results, relationships, health, and even our happiness.
Business Results
Once glorified as a valuable skill, multitasking has been debunked as a productivity myth. Research shows that attempting to focus on multiple tasks simultaneously actually decreases productivity by up to 40 percent. Each time we change tasks, there’s a cognitive “switchover” period that disrupts our workflow. A compelling article by Psychology Today titled “The True Cost of Multitasking” sheds light on this phenomenon.
Relationships
Excessive email checking as well as the resulting stress can strain our relationships – both at work and at home. This isn’t just a matter of the time that email can take away from connecting with family, friends, clients, and colleagues. When we rely on email, our messages can easily be misread. As Cal Newport says in his book A World Without Email, “Email is a breeding ground for misunderstanding and miscommunication.”
Health
Our bodies are wired to handle short bursts of stress and the accompanying cortisol rush. After a life-threatening encounter in primitive times, we would return to the safety of our cave and tribe. The danger was over and the stress cycle was complete – cortisol levels and other physiological reactions to “fight or flight” returned to normal. By contrast, many business professionals today face prolonged exposure to stress – endless emails and to-do’s, demanding bosses and clients, not to mention responsibilities piling up at home. This chronic stress is now known to be an underlying factor in many illnesses.
Happiness
“I want to be happier.” This is what a high-performing Japanese woman told me on a recent call. She felt like all her waking hours and energy went into her work as a senior manager in a global company. Our happiness depends on our ability to engage in activities that bring us joy and fulfillment. Constant email checking can rob us of the time and presence to immerse ourselves in experiences that nurture our wellbeing and happiness.
The Right to Disconnect
Acknowledging the detrimental impact of constant connectivity, companies and countries are increasingly implementing “right to disconnect” policies. These initiatives aim to promote work-life balance by prohibiting after-hours emails.
Strategies for Self-Management
If your employer hasn’t yet embraced the right to disconnect, here are 4 steps I’ve found effective in managing email overwhelm:
- Limit email checking: Reduce the frequency of email checks, gradually transitioning from constantly or multiple times per day to just once daily (or less!). You’ll be amazed by how this helps to reduce the number of emails you receive too.
- Separate processing and response: Distinguish between processing emails (deleting or providing quick responses) and crafting thoughtful replies. Using a timer helps you to understand on average how much time you need now – and you can gradually reduce that time (the Sasuga! 5-Day Email Challenge explains how).
- Avoid evening responses: When someone emails you at the end of your day, it’s often tempting to respond immediately. But that easily results in another email appearing and a drawn-out back-and-forth that ties you to your computer. Instead, respond the next day or draft and schedule your response for the morning.
- Use a “Later” folder: If you feel more at peace with an empty inbox, create a designated folder for emails that don’t require immediate attention. Regularly review this folder during scheduled email management sessions. Or, if you have a “Snooze” function, use that to make the email disappear and come back when you’re ready (I LOVE this function!).
These 4 strategies can help you to deal with emails faster, receive fewer, and have more time to focus on what’s really important for you: your business results, relationships, health, and happiness.
Less effort, more impact!
But… old habits really do die hard.
You may need extra help to create an email practice that works for you. Here’s what I created for myself and my clients:
The Sasuga! 5-Day Email Challenge
This proven and practical resource gives you
- An email each day for 5 days to guide you step by step to create a habit of email efficiency that works for you
- Mindset tips for your ongoing success as you develop new behaviors
- A Step Summary and Reminder for you to keep – just in case you slip out of the habit during particularly busy times (which is normal), so that you can quickly get back into it
What people said after 5 days:
“Having a lean inbox increases my focus greatly.”
“This is a really good way to clear my brain.”
Yes, I want to stop stressing about email!
If you’d like to listen to me talking about this topic, tune into Episode 4 of the Sasuga! Podcast here.