Email junkie
Are you at a loss when your inbox is empty? Do you find yourself obsessively checking for new mail every 15 minutes, if not more? You're addicted, my friend.
Stand on your swivel chair and say, "Hello, my name is ***** and I'm an email-a-holic." Feel better? You should do, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Now to the solution.
How did it happen?
As a rule of thumb, any activity or substance that you regularly rely upon to change your mood can become a habit that's hard to break. If work or your life in general is leaving you feeling bored or anxious then effectively you're logging on for a fix.
Even if there's no post waiting, the sense of expectation can be a buzz in itself. If it's having an adverse effect of your work, however, you do need to find a way to resist the temptation.
Am I alone?
A survey carried out this summer by edesigns.co.uk found that employees of both sexes wasted at least two and a half hours on email a day. However the number using email to flirt with colleagues had decreased following several public cases where messages had been read by others, including one forwarded to thousands across the globe.
Other problems caused by email...
- Stress: Email is being recognised as the culprit of increased stress for office workers. So much so that 'e-mail-free Fridays' have been introduced by several companies to cut the pressures and encourage colleagues to talk to each other. Firms including Camelot and Thompson found staff became more relaxed when they didn't have to deal with 100 plus emails.
- A joke too far: Junk forwards and office humour can be taken too far; people have been sacked for sending "inappropriate humour" by email you have been warned.
- Office flirt: Email flirtations can be harmless fun, but watch out for CC: everyone - the shame, the shame.
Top tips to put you on the road to recovery:
- Take a fresh approach: First look at your work in terms of motivation and the reward you get from it. If you're trying to do too much at once, for instance, then a more realistic schedule may help.
- Take a day away from the net: Try to engage with reality for at least a little while.
- Set limits/times for checking mail: Say three times a day, however if you currently check every 5 minutes you may want to increase the breaks gradually to ease the pain.
- Do something else instead: If you feel the urge to check your email go walk around, make a cuppa, distract your workmates, whatever.
- Organise and prioritise mail: Porn first, boss last...or is it the other way around?
- Keep mail short and to point: Less time consuming and should make peoples replies more succinct too.
- Don't send unnecessary mail: If you're sending mail to the person sent next to you, why not just talk to them instead - novel concept, I know.
- Cold turkey: Or if this is impossible, filter all folders so only important work ones get through.
