I still remember the day my dad told me about email. He had just gotten an email account and he said I should get one. It will make my life easier, he said, because you can answer them right away. Oh, those days of innocence!
Little did we know, we’d both have inboxes with hundreds of unopened emails in them one day. Thankfully, those days are gone for me. I regularly answer my emails now and if I have even 20 unanswered emails in my box, I feel stressed out.
But the lure of emails has not left me. For some reason they have a tendency to call my name, saying, “Barb, come look at us and we’ll make your life exciting!” As a writer it’s a constant temptation to look at them because it’s such an easy way to procrastinate.
I’ve tried different things: Saying I can only look at them 3 or 4 times a day, saying I can look at them only if I answer them right away, and asking friends to hold me accountable to how often I look at them. But I still haven’t gotten it under control.
I know God could change me through the renewing of the mind, and I’ve actually gone to Him for help with that, but not often enough and long enough to see lasting results. I’m afraid this has been one of those on-again-off-again renewing of the mind projects for me.
If this is something you’d like to work on, here are 7 lies that make us check emails too often and the truth that will change our behavior (if we drill it into our head often enough!)
7 Lies That Make Us Check Emails Too Often
- It will be fun to check my emails. This is only true if we get a fun email. If we don’t get any fun e-mails, or if we instead receive an email that brings up a problem we have to deal with, then emails are anything but fun. The truth here is that it may be fun to check our emails.
- I probably have some fun emails. This may be true if we only answer our emails every couple of days. But if we answer them 10 times a day, it’s probably not true. After all, how many fun emails do we get in a day? We’ll increase our chances of getting a fun email if we check them less often!
- I need to check them in case someone needs me. In an instant society, it’s easy to feel like we have to be always-available for people. This isn’t the case, though. Most people don’t expect us to answer our emails right away. If they need us right away, they’ll call. If they don’t know us well enough to have our phone number, they probably don’t need us right away.
- I’ll just check for a minute. Okay, let’s all be honest here. How often does it only take a minute? I use the Pomodoro method for writing and I’ll sometimes use the 5 minute breaks to answer emails. When I do, I often find myself going past my break time because I just want to “finish up this email really quick!”
- This won’t slow me down. If you’re a writer, blogger, or podcaster, checking emails can slow you down because so often those emails a) bring up jobs you need to do or b) bring up things everyone else is doing which makes you feel like you need to do them. Even if the email checking itself only lasts a minute, the thinking about it can last for hours. When I’m really on the ball (which isn’t often), I deal with this in three ways: 1) Schedule any to-dos the email brings up, 2) answer them right away, or 3) renew my mind if the email stresses me out in some way.
- I will be missing out if I don’t check them now. Here’s the truth: we may miss out on excitement, but if we check them all the time, we’ll miss out on peace and work. What would you rather have – days filled with peace and accomplishment or days filled with too much email checking, which leads to disappointment, stress, and obsession, all for a measly possible 30 seconds of excitement? I think I’d take the peace and work!
- I’ll answer this email later. At first glance this doesn’t seem like a lie that leads to obsessive email checking, but it is. Here’s why: When we say we’ll answer our emails later, we usually end up with way too many emails in our inbox. When we have too many emails in the box, we worry that we’re missing something so we have to check them to see. The sooner we answer them (or delete them or schedule an email for them), the sooner they’re out of our mind, and the sooner we’ll be able to relax.
Anyone have advice?
How about you? Do you have any advice or tips for me? Any success stories? Any tales of e-mail woe? Any lies I missed? Any practical strategies for breaking the habit? Let me know in the comments!
P.S. I’m also guest posting today on Kathy Gossen’s blog, Cornerstone Confessions. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: How to Raise Kids Who Don’t Struggle with Weight.
Great post, Barb! And oh, how I needed the reminder. So often when writing, I’ll use e-mail as a distraction/procrastination technique, and it drives me crazy! This gives me a lot to think about…and I want to check out the Pomodoro Technique, too! Blessings on you week!
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one, Merry. Here’s to hoping we both change! Hope you also have a wonderful week!
I think the biggest lie we tell ourselves is that it’s not a problem…that it’s not a waste of time. Email is important but it can be a huge distraction. I never know how much time technology and social media took in my day until I fasted 21 days without anything…no computer, ebooks, TV, phone or anything. It really helped me free up time for God and family.
Wow, what a great idea to fast for 21 days from all of that. I can’t remember – have you ever written a post on it? I have a terrible memory so chances are good you have. If you have, I’d love to see the link – if not, you should write one! Also, that’s a great lie to add to the discussion – probably one of the ones we most often tell ourself. For me the truth would be, “it is a problem, otherwise you wouldn’t be trying to change in this area! You’re trying to change, Barb, because it’s a problem!”
I haven’t written a post on it (maybe I should, thanks for the suggestion).
You might have heard me mention it over the years. I’ve done this a few times and am always blessed by it and shocked to realize the hold social media has in my life. Anything can become an “idol”. It’s hard to realize social media can take AWAY from God when so many of us use it in our ministries. Fasting from it helps break the bonds of it and see it’s potential for both good and “evil”. Satan can use any tool to distract us from God, even tools we use in our ministries if we become too dependent upon them or spend more time with them than we do our Savior.
That you realize it’s a problem is a huge step. Not many can recognize this truth.
you’re doing great, Barb.
I can definitely see how social media can take away from God, TC. For me I don’t think it’s social media as much as just the Internet in general – I’d love to be able to fast from the whole works for a few weeks. I wonder how you’d do that with emails. Will have to think about this! Will look forward to visiting with you about it.
Barb, I am afraid I don’t have any tips to share – I am more like you, trying out different ideas but haven’t “nailed-it” yet. But I just want to amen that part of peace and getting work done. There are days i don’t want to know what anyone else is doing or writing or talking about because it’ll occupy too much space in my mind that I won’t be productive at all. Thanks for the tips here. Your post has helped me act on some emails I have been procrastinating about.
I’m glad the post helped, Ngina. I always feel so good when I’m at inbox zero. For awhile there I was doing it once a day – I’d like to get back to that point!
I’m not sure what the answer is, but mixing business in with the other ones is a sure fire way to not want to read emails too late into the night. I don’t have emails sent to my phone so I don’t get distracted during the day. So that leaves late afternoon and early evenings.
So here’s the advice; get into a lawsuit where you dread to see any emails from your attorney and you’ll get the email thing under control… That’s it. See? Glad I could be of help…
This brought a smile to my face, trying to be funny, even if it missed the mark.
Seriously. I put my cell phone away after hours and try to do the same with the computer.
That is SO funny, Floyd. I hope I don’t ever end up taking your advice! :) You gave me a good chuckle. I do like the put the cell phone and computer away after hours advice, though. I’ve been trying to do that – even programmed in an automatic shutoff for my computer after 7:00 but it has to be plugged in in order for it to take place. I’m thinking of maybe putting it someplace inaccessible so I’m not tempted to get on it. Now that we don’t have kids at home, I don’t feel like I have to be a good example so I’m more tempted to be on it at night!
I think it can be difficult not to check email since it’s so close, on your phone. When I hear the “bing” I feel I need to at least check the email out. I have made it a habit though to turn my phone on sleep mode during the evening and bed time. Having blocks of time were your phone is off or on plane/sleep mode could help anyone. Great post!
That’s a great idea, Dan. I turned my little “bing” off except for texts because I would have a hard time hearing it and not checking it. Sometimes I need to physically move mine to another room so I’m not tempted to be on it. I like excitement too much. :)
hahahahahaha! caught me! It’s hard when you’re OCD! :)
You’re so funny. :) I agree. It would be hard if you were OCD. It’s even hard when I’m not OCD!