Handle email and messages in batches at set times each day
- Moderate value
- Evidence B
- Saves time
- Free
- Takes minutes
- Some willpower
In plain words
The same group of people were compared over two weeks. In the week when email checks were limited to 3 times a day, daily stress was clearly lower, while the number of emails sent and received was the same. With no limit, people checked an average of 15.5 times a day.
- Cost
-
Free. It takes a little time to tell coworkers how often you will reply. Holding back from checking email all the time takes a little willpower.
- What you get
-
124 adults, the same people compared before and after over two weeks (each person as their own control). In the week limited to checking email 3 times a day, daily stress was clearly lower than in the unlimited week (effect size Cohen's d = 0.37). The number of emails received and answered over the two weeks did not differ. At the start, with no limit, people checked email an average of 15.5 times a day.
- Notes
-
This is one study, with a small-to-medium effect, and it measured stress, not work actually done. Instant messaging has not been studied directly; this is only extended by inference.
- Evidence grade
- B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
- Sources
-
- Kushlev & Dunn (2015). Checking email less frequently reduces stress. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.005
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Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 3, tip 5. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer