6 Simple Strategies to Stop Email-Induced Stress

Email burnout: It is real and it is terrible. (Getty Images)

Advances in technology mean you can check your email from wherever and whenever you want. Presumably, this ready access to your inbox should make life less stressful. But according to a new study in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, it may actually have the opposite effect.

For the study, University of British Columbia researchers divided 124 adults into two groups. One group was allowed to check their email just three times a day, while the other could check it as often as they wanted. Then the researchers measured the participants’ stress levels. They found that those who visited their inboxes more often felt more stressed, while those who were limited to checking three times per day felt less stressed.

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“Checking email too frequently may compromise your sense of being on top of things because you are being yanked back and forth between tasks, which may reinforce the feeling that you have so much to do and not enough time to do it,” explains study author Kostadin Kushlev, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. “Email also contributes to fragmented attention so it may make you feel overwhelmed and stressed.”

So how can you kick the email-checking habit, especially considering your mental health is at stake? Consider these six strategies to get you to a more stress-free place:

This was the strategy used in the University of British Columbia study to help participants fight the urge to constantly peruse their inboxes — but it doesn’t have to stop at just email. “The general message from our research — as well as previous research — is to try to minimize task interruptions and multitasking,” explains Kushlev. Close browser windows, social networking site updates and chatting options like instant messaging. If you have a Mac, turn off the Notification Center, which alerts you to all your texts, Facebook updates, emails and the like on your desktop.  ”This can help minimize the stress and tension associated with mixing all the different tasks and activities of life,” says Kushlev.

Maybe you visit your inbox right before or after mealtimes. Or maybe you read through emails once in the morning to deal with urgent issues and scheduling for the day, and then once again in the evening. Regardless of how you set it up, the point is to have a plan so that you don’t get derailed when “You’ve got mail.”

So maybe you aren’t able to only check email once or twice per day. Even if this is the case, make a point to accomplish at least one thing on your to-do list before seeing what’s new in your inbox. For example, only check email when you finish the first draft of that report, rather than when you’re only halfway done. “Several studies show that the very act of switching between email and other tasks can deplete attention and working memory,” explains Kushlev.

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Some smartphones and computers allow you adjust the settings so you only hear alerts from specific contacts, while the rest are silenced. Some also have features that allow you to designate “VIP emails” and put them in one place for quick and easy access. This helps if you’re waiting for something important but don’t want to get bogged down with less pressing emails like Facebook notifications, Groupon goodies and spam emails about an inheritance.

If going cold turkey sounds too overwhelming, try curbing your email habit for just a day or two. “You’ll see that the world doesn’t end when you don’t check your email and you are probably no less productive,” says Kushlev. “This experience may reinforce your future behavior.” If a whole day or two going email-free is too much, you can also make a smaller commitment. For example, designate one weeknight as an email-free zone or step away from your inbox on Saturdays only if a whole weekend is too much.

“Social influence is a very powerful tool in behavioral change,” explains Kushlev. If you work with a close-knit team of coworkers, suggest that you make a group decision not to check or reply to each other’s emails at certain times, such as the evening or on weekends. Then keep one another accountable by calling out those who don’t stick to the plan. “It may be extra difficult to limit email-checking by yourself if everybody else expects replies on evenings and weekends,” says Kushlev.

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