Technology

Dear Email It’s Not Me, It’s You

How to break up with your email and get your life back.

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Does this sound like you? Chained to your email 24/7? Always checking email on your computer, phone, and tablet? Your train of thought is constantly being interrupted by the ding of a new message? Just living that typical “always on” lawyer life?

Yeah. Been there, done that. My email addiction was strong. I used to find myself mindlessly (and anxiously) hitting refresh on my email countless times a day. I went from computer to phone back to computer again within minutes as if I was expecting to see something different. It was the first thing I did every morning and the last thing I did before bed each night.

I was always on, always connected, and always seriously stressed. For a while, I tried to justify it. I would say, “I own my own business and emails equal money.” But, it eventually got to the point where it was seriously hurting my productivity and mindset. I knew things needed to change.

At first, I just tried to be mindful of how often I checked it and stop myself when I felt like it was becoming too much. However, this wasn’t super effective (cause, willpower) and it still took a lot of time and energy to enforce.

After some trial and error, I successfully implemented the following four steps and put some healthy boundaries in place with my email. If email has taken over your life too, try them out and get your life back.

(1) Get organized

The first step I took in getting control over my email was to organize it. I’m ashamed to admit that I had roughly 12,000 unopened emails. Now, before you hop on the judgment train, most of them were from random email lists I had subscribed to over the years. But, the point is there were a lot of them, and they were cluttering everything up. In addition, I had thousands more opened emails that I was saving for one reason or another. Thousands of emails with no organization. It’s no wonder my inbox produced so much anxiety.

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I started off by going through and deleting everything that could go (and yes, this took days). Next, I created folders for all of the major types of emails I receive (i.e., client, personal, business management, etc). Then, I sorted every single email I had received to date into one of these folders. Finally, I set up a variety of filters that would auto sort new incoming emails into these folders without me having to manually do it.

Now, when I log into my email it is easy to see what’s new, what’s important, and what needs attention. This system makes checking my email far less overwhelming and takes significantly less time than sorting through one big inbox.

(2) Create structure

Next, I set up specific times during the day dedicated to checking email. I settled on 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. This was a really hard decision because I genuinely liked checking my email first thing in the morning. However, I was allowing other people’s priorities to start my day, which wasn’t setting my day up for success. I also disabled all email notifications. Not having the constant reminder to check my email in my face all the time definitely helped to limit the amount of times I checked it.

(3) Set up roadblocks

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Even with my email being cleaned up and my fancy new email-checking schedule in place, I still needed to take some extra measures to protect my new system. I downloaded an email-blocking app on my phone and laptop and set it up so that I could only check my email at specific times.

At first, this was really weird. I would be on the train or sitting in a waiting room and go to check to my email, but nothing. However, I eventually got used to it and broke the habit of constantly checking it. Then, I took things a step further and removed all email applications from my phone and tablet.

(4) Batch and automate

This final step is my favorite one and my secret weapon. I am a huge fan of batching tasks and using automation whenever possible. But, for the longest time it never occurred to me that I could apply these principles to my email systems.

The biggest thing that kept me attached to my email all the time was being afraid I was going to miss something or forget to respond to something important. Batching and automation have helped immensely with that. For example, once a week I batch by drafting all the emails I want to send in a week. Another example of batching occurs when I sit down twice a day to respond to emails. I automate by using a Google extension called Boomerang to decide the date and time I want the email to send.

I hope you can implement these tips to break free from your email chains and gain some more freedom in your life.

Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.

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