The sheer amount of time spent in America checking email must be staggering. Even when you leave your computer to go to the bathroom, your phone follows you with that never-ending reminder you need to respond to people immediately.Fight your brain’s programming with a little re-programming of your email account.
Start using an out of office message more often.If you’re constantly distracted by email, one of the best things you can do for yourself is switch to checking it only at certain times. Once you’ve figured out your schedule, you can let your coworkers know with an automatic response advising them approximately when you’ll be responding.
At a loss for words on your auto-reply? Experts suggest something like this:
- Thanks for your email. I’m currently heads-down on a major project and will only be reading and responding to emails first thing in the morning and at the end of the workday. Should your email need immediate attention, please contact me via phone. Otherwise, expect an email response from me at the end of the day or first thing in the morning.
Ideally, you will only have to program this message during a week you’re working on something big and need to cut out distractions. But if email is a non-stop issue, you could put a note in your email signature that lets people know your typical response time and when you’re usually available.
Source:LifeHacker