Constantly checking emails may be unhealthy
The road to stress is paved with good-intentioned email checking. A new study shows that checking email early in the morning and late at night may cause stress rather than manage it.
Dr. Richard MacKinnon from the Future of Work Centre interviewed nearly 2,000 working people in the UK and found that nearly half have emails automatically sent to their inbox (push notifications) and 62 per cent left their email on all day.
Also, those who checked emails first thing in the morning and last at night were more stressed and pressured than those who don’t.
Dr Richard MacKinnon said: “Our research shows that email is a double-edged sword. Whilst it can be a valuable communication tool, it’s clear that it’s a source of stress of frustration for many of us. The people who reported it being most useful to them also reported the highest levels of email pressure! But the habits we develop, the emotional reactions we have to messages and the unwritten organisational etiquette around email, combine into a toxic source of stress which could be negatively impacting our productivity and wellbeing.”
“Despite organisations attempting to shape policies and procedures to minimise the negative impact of email, a clear one-size-fits-all advice is ineffective. People are different both in terms of how they perceive stress and how and where they work. What works for some is unlikely to work for others. We came up with a few tips to help some of those bad habits.”
- To the early morning/late night checkers — put your phone away, do you really need to check your email?
- How about planning your day and prioritising your work, before the priorities of others flood your inbox?
- Consider turning off ‘push notifications’ and/or turning off your email app for portions of the day, and take control of when you receive email.
The full research report can be read at: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/FWC-Youve-got-mail-research-report.pdf
