I was at the gym listening to a podcast the other day when I heard this great quote – “Your email inbox is a to-do list made for you by other people.” Well, if that doesn’t make us look at our email inbox differently, I don’t know what will. And I assume that makes the notifications for emails equivalent to these same people “tasering” us as a reminder about this to-do list. Good times, right?

It’s 2023, are we finally going to treat this email inbox differently this year? Is it going to be a convenience for us or someone else? And depending on how we handle emails determines how we train people to treat us. If we aren’t expedient at responding, they send more, sometimes via other sources like texts and phone calls. If we are good at responding, sometimes that gets us more emails, too, because they say, “I’ll email Beth, she’s really responsive.” Ugh, it’s never ending—our list of tasks keeps growing!

I can’t stop incoming emails for me or you, but I can stop us from being “tasered” repeatedly. Turn off your notifications for your computer and your phone. You will check regardless, I am certain, but you don’t need to be triggered. Here’s what we need to absorb: The average person checks their email about 15 times per day. But a recent study from the University of British Columbia found that when people were limited to checking their email to just 3X per day, their stress levels decreased significantly. Those who limited their email checking also felt more able to complete their most important work—they felt a greater sense of accomplishment. It’s up to you, but consider silencing your notifications.

Let’s GO! WE GOT THIS!
Beth