Why You Should Pause Your Inbox
Techniques like ‘check your inbox at set hours’ have missed out on smartphones.
Checking emails is an addictive behavior. Seeing new incoming email messages activates our reward system, mainly due to that feeling of inclusion or “importance” we get when emails are coming our way. With the use of smartphones, this feeling has been amplified.
But seeing an email notification right when you go to sleep or as soon as you wake up can lead to undesired stress in the moments when you need to wind down. In turn, the email-checking habit prevents one from relaxing right before bed or from being clear-minded when they wake up.
Email notifications disabled. Now what?
I get too many emails. From employees, clients, partners, investors, and glorious spammers; that’s just the reality of being a startup founder.
I used to feel that being responsive and constantly being notified of what’s going on was far more important and pressing than me having some “off” time. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As Jim Kwik said it:
“Inbox is nothing but a convenient organization system for other people’s agenda for your life.”
