Since starting my post graduate studies here in Japan I have been subscribing to a newsletter from a blog maintained by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Standford University. The blog is called TOMORROW’S PROFESSOR BLOG.
One of the newsletters that I received this week was about email addiction. That’s right, addiction to email. I must admit I did’nt know this thing was real until I started reading the newsletter and asking myself some of the questions in the article. I certainly diagnosed myself with email addiction!
This week’s newsletter was written by Dr Mary McKinney, a clinical psychologist, of Successful Academic Coaching. And this an excerpt from that article.
“In my experience, email is the most insidious, seductive time-waster we face. In fact, for many of us, email is an pernicious addiction. Checking and replying to our electronically delivered messages seems like a necessary, innocuous occupation, but it is also a major from of procrastination”
And she gave some tips to deal with email addiction:
- Stop checking your email first thing in the morning.
- Turn off any ‘you’ve got mail’ sounds or verbal cues.
- Close your email program between sessions.
- Monitor your addiction – how often do you check your mails? Is your habit severe? Do you take a quick peek dozens of times each working day? Is this the best use of your time?
- Decide on a reasonable number of times per day to check your messages.
- Choose specific time of the day to open your in-box.
- Cut back slowly – are you accustomed to letting your own work become sidelined by every messages that arrive?
- Is email checking the only way you permit yourself to take a break? Think of a more relaxing or rewarding small break from work.
So yes, I have diagnosed myself with email addiction! Laugh if you will. And I am taking these tips seriously so that my work do not suffer.
How about you?
Pacific Family Health Journal 