An AOL survey* of 4,000 email users in the U.S. taken in 2008 showed that almost half of the respondents admitted they were “hooked” on email. And, they were so addicted that:

• It caused them family problems ─11% admitted secretly peeking at email when their spouse or other family members weren’t looking
• It distracted them in sacred places ─ 15% admitted checking email in church.
• It probably caused them health problems─ nearly 60% fessed up to checking email in the bathroom.

Okay, that was probably too much information!

What to do if you are one of the email abusers?

• Consider the message you are sending when you satisfy your email craving during meetings, family dinners and at other inappropriate moments: “Email is more important to me than being present in this moment.” Or, or a more personal level, “Regardless of what we are doing, I’m open to being engaged by someone else who may be more interesting or important to me than you are.” Is that the message you intend to convey?

• Think about your health. The constant pressure to read and respond to email adds stress to our already stressful lives. I don’t have a study to prove it but trust me, it’s true.

• Realize that you’ll no doubt make a mistake at some point. Consider the post Lois wrote the other day about the misunderstandings that can happen when communicating via email. Now, overlay the danger of surreptitiously sending an email while your significant other isn’t looking! If you don’t make an error in the substance itself, chances are you will make a mistake in the tone.

For all those reasons and others that you can probably add, control your urge to email. Step away from that Blackberry!

*Source: Death by Information Overload, Harvard Business Review, September 2009

TAGS: business communication, email, LinkedIn