4 Tips to Improve Your Relationship with Email

These simple strategies will help you set boundaries with your inbox.

For many of us, email is an all-consuming part of work that doesn’t stop when the workday is done. Studies show that many office workers use email six hours a day, and 52% of workers check email from bed. While it can feel stressful to ignore our inbox altogether, spendingtoomuch time on email has been shown to lower productivity and raise our stress levels. In fact, even “anticipatory stress” — the state of anxiety about the inevitable emails to come — prevents us from being fully present in the rest of our lives.

The good news is that when we set healthy boundaries with our inbox, we can ensure that we stay productive without drowning in emails all day long. If you need some help, start with these tips:

Close your inbox while you’re doing focused work

Believe it or not, we actually don’t need to have our email open all the time. The next time you need to focus, block off time on your calendar, and close out your email tab before getting started. Letting colleagues know you’re away from email or taking some tech-free “focus time” can help you set the boundaries you need to stay productive without an influx of notifications. 

Block time on your calendar for email

By setting aside designated time on your calendar to go through your inbox, you’ll manage your email more efficiently and protect the rest of your time from interruptions. Research shows that limiting email can actually reduce stress and improve productivity –– so don’t be afraid to ignore your inbox when you’re focused on something else. 

Pause before sending your next email

Being mindful of your emails can help you streamline communication with your teammates. Before sending your next email, remove any unnecessary recipients, and read over the copy one more time to see if you can keep the text more concise. It will only take a minute or two, and it’s a small step toward creating a culture where we can all prioritize what matters most. 

Set an email cutoff time

The psychological term “enmeshment” refers to when our boundaries are blurred. This has become increasingly common over the past few years, and we’ve realized that when we don’t have boundaries, we feel more stressed and more drained. Studies show that recovering from work-related stress requires not just physically leaving work, but psychologically detaching from work. Try setting a time each night when you log out of your email and unplug. You’ll feel less preoccupied with work stress and more present with your loved ones.