stop checking my email so often

source of procrastination, real addiction and time loss.

the desktop alert I think that’s better.

this hasn’t progressed.

try to limit to 5 times a day. at least it’s a start

Ever since I started this job about a year ago, my email habits have changed and are bordering obsessive. The company I work for now is a heavy email company. We send emails to many different lists, which is very useful for organizing the messages, but on a slow day it’s about 100 a day! I’d say 1/3 need replies within the hour or that very day. The other 2/3’s should be read the same day generally as well.

I have the sound muted on my computer, so I have to manually click on the email application to see the email messages. I leave the application running to save the server connection/download time.

When I need to concentrate, I should turn off the email application, but I don’t. I usually need to reference previous emails, attachments, etc. And I’ll often use the email application as my word processor instead of Microsoft Word.

Really not sure how to modify my behavior described about without impacting my work.

Something I can fix though is to stop checking work email when I am at home in the AM & PM. I was leaving my laptop in my bedroom. I’d wake up in the morning & check work email before I even got up to pee! I’ve recently stopped that. I also don’t go to bed with the laptop in the bedroom either. This is helping a little. But I haven’t stopped checking email in the mornings, it’s just not the very first thing anymore.

So, what I’ll try to do is only spend 5 minutes in the AM reviewing the subject titles. But not replying to anything unless it’s urgent. That’s the other problem is I’m often late to work because I’m working at home before I shower. Dumb!

In the PM I will not turn on email at all at home (unless there is a personal email that came in while I was at work & didn’t have time to reply to). On 2nd thought, I really should just not open the email app in the evening.

I used to interrupt my work constnatly (I work from home) to check my email. Now I check it first thing in the morning as part of my hour long settle-down-to-work routine which includes: breakfast, tea, using the light box, reading blogs, and stretching. I do check it again over the course of the day, sometimes several times, but it no longer feels excessive. I think one mistake I made early on was trying to limit it to once a day—that was too much for me and I couldn’t keep it up. I feel like this is no longer a problem in my life and I’m putting it down as solved.

I’m giving up…I guess i just like checking email!!

I’m getting worse! Now I’ve pulled up a website of a local company where I REALLY want to get a job. . . I go to it all day long and hit the refresh buttom hoping another job has been posted! Arrrgghh!!!

As I sit here on my ass, feeling it growing larger, looking for JOB! I go to my email every few minutes and hit the refresh button. Terrible habit!!! If had more to do. . . or could make myself do more it wouldn’t be such a need.

I’ve changed my work email settings so that it automatically checks less often (20 minutes instead of 5), and doesn’t interrupt me with an on-screen alert each time a new message arrives. That’s much less intrusive. I can recommend it. It’s making it easier to get things done.