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  • How to Take a Break from eMails
Technology Articles > Software > Communications > How to Take a Break from eMails

Most of us are so attached to work that it’s hard to disconnect even on a Friday night. But you have to. You just do. You have to detach for peace of mind, and to prevent everyone around you from not wanting to spend time with you on a Saturday or Sunday morning - nobody wants to have breakfast with someone that’s constantly checking their phone.

On the other hand, it’s hard to put your email down - especially when you might miss that really important notice or be the one that didn’t respond on a Saturday. Trust me, though, it’s important that you take those two short days to unwind and stop staring at anything to do with work. How can you accomplish this task without feeling guilty or being tempted to check your email over dinner anyway? Here are some tips.

Set a Timeline

Make it a habit to only check your email at specific times Monday through Friday (and if you have to, Sunday). Let everyone that you know that you will only be checking your email during those times. What works well here is to check your email at the start of the day (say 9am) and at the end of the day (around 4:30). You will get emails, but you do not have to read them or respond to them - in fact, you may get less emails when you stop checking your emails.

Keep This Rule In Mind

Did you know that the more you send out emails, the more emails you are likely to get in return? Simply stop sending so many emails. People don’t want to get your emails any more than you want to send them anyway, so just stop it. Before you send an email, think to yourself: do I really need to send this? If you hesitate, you probably don’t need to bother people with a ton of emails.

Just Don’t Look

Do not read any work emails during the weekend because the responses you send are going to be useless. We feel so compelled to respond to each and every email that we often send out responses that are entirely useless. Chances are that you can’t fix a problem on a Friday night or Saturday or even Sunday, so just wait until Monday to get back to that person.

Stop Bothering People

You might be a workaholic and maybe it doesn’t bother you to send out tons of emails on a Friday night or Saturday, but it’s going to bother everyone else around you. You really don’t need to bother anyone on the weekend - even if it’s a ‘just a reminder’ email. There’s nothing worse than an inbox full of emails from the same person reminding another person of a task that has to be done the following week. Hold off until Monday.

Just Put It Down

Spend some time with the people you care about on the weekend. Go out, have fun, go to brunch, hug your kids, do whatever you have to do, but just put your phone down or disable your email for those two days. Not only can you do it, you should do it for pure peace of mind - and to de-stress, which is something that all of us have to do.