Treat Email Like Intermittent Fasting
My addiction is tied to the need to keep clean inboxes.
I’ve been trying to get my email addiction under control.
I disabled push notifications on my iPhone, so I don’t see any new messages come through in real-time. The problem is I now check my email more often — like every 3–4 minutes.
It’s not healthy.
My addiction is tied to the need to keep “clean” inboxes, which means having zero unread emails, zero unsent drafts, and zero spam. If I’m not careful, I’ll be in a state of reactivity for hours.
Stephen Covey would say that I’m living between Quadrants 3 & 4 of the Urgent / Important matrix. I’m constantly fielding interruptions, mostly unimportant, all the while tricking myself into thinking I’m being productive.
So, I’m trying to change.
One idea I had recently was to apply an “intermittent fasting” approach to email. Here are my three rules:
- No more open email tab on my desktop allowed
- No email checking between 9pm-9am
- No more Mail app on my phone
Perhaps some of these will help you as well.
No More Open Email tab
For me, keeping an open email tab in my browser is like sitting in front of a bowl of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate-covered almonds. It’s pure temptation.
Close your email tab, and practice the Pomodoro Technique — give yourself 25–30 minutes of uninterrupted Deep Work time. Then, if you need to, spend five minutes checking and responding to messages. Afterward, dive back into another Pomodoro session.
If you’re feeling ambitious, only check your email three times per workday, and align your checking schedule with snack breaks, naps, walks, etc. Like this:
9:00am-10:30am: work on your most important stuff
10:30am-10:45am: take a coffee or walk break
10:45am-11:00am: deal with email
11:00am–12:00pm: crush a sprint before lunch
12:00pm-12:30pm: lunch
12:30pm-12:45pm: deal with email
12:45pm-2:15pm: crush more work
2:15pm-2:30pm: take walk
2:30pm-2:45pm: deal with email
2:45pm-end of workday: flex time
The schedule above allows for three 15-min email sprints, plus some flex time at the end that you could also use for email, if necessary.
Seems a little unrealistic, right? It might be for those who are much more important than I. But, I sense that too many of us think we’re in the “important” category when we’re not.
To find out for sure, try this for a few days.
No More Email Between 9pm and 9am
I like going to bed knowing that I’ve “closed” all of my open communications. It makes me feel like I’m ending the day on my own terms. However, this means I often start a new day on someone else’s.
If I stay up late to get the last word, I typically wake up to an inbox full of to-dos. In doing so, I give other people power over my time.
My solution here is to build an email-checking buffer on the front and back end of every day, so I am email-free for 12 straight hours.
At the same time, I have to redefine what it means for me to be in control of my inboxes. Control here can’t be synonymous with “clean.” Instead, having control means that I dictate exactly when email gets my time, not the other way around.
And with a 12-hour email fast, you have plenty of time to sleep and enjoy activities that are meaningful to you.
9:00pm: phone goes down
9:00pm–10:00pm: read / watch Survivor / enjoy unplugged time with my wife
10:00pm-6:00am: sleep hard
6:00am-6:45am: exercise
6:45am-7:30am: make breakfast smoothie, and morning coffee; read
7:30am-8:00am: shower
8:00am-9:00am: listen to a podcast, catch up on news, prep for the workday
9:01am: check email, open the flood gates, do battle
Again, I don’t run a big company or manage people. I also don’t have kids. So, this schedule might be a little idealistic for some. Regardless, it’s worth trying if you are trying to break your too-close-for-comfort ties to email as well.
No More Mail App
This one feels like a real sacrifice. My Apple Mail app is the most efficient way to check a few different inboxes simultaneously. Plus, I can do it on the go. Ten minutes after deleting the app, I found myself tapping where it used to be and prepping my thumb for a glorious pull-down.
The email-checking habit is deeply ingrained in my motor functions and psyche. I’m honestly not sure yet if this strategy is overkill, but I’m going to let it play out for a few days.
Best of luck to those of you who join me in this journey!
