Slave to e-mails? Keep an eye on your health because checking your online inbox too often would cause anxiety and stress. Conversely, staying away from email, or otherwise using it wisely and moderately, would help alleviate them.
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Slave to e-mails? Keep an eye on your health because checking your online inbox too often would cause anxiety and stress. Conversely, staying away from email, or otherwise using it wisely and moderately, would help alleviate them.
This is confirmed by new research conducted by the experts of the University of British Columbia. The study in question was published in the scientific journal Computers in Human Behavior and bears the title of “Checking email less frequently reduces stress”.
Study participants who limited checking emails to three times a day reported feel less stressed in general compared to those who have kept an eye on their inbox constantly.
Some of the volunteers - including students, financial analysts and doctors - were asked to limit e-mail checking to just 3 times a day for a week. The others had to check their emails as often as they could (about the same number of times they normally checked their emails before the study).
These instructions were then reversed for the two groups of participants during the following week. During the study periods, participants also answered short daily questionnaires, which included the information about their stress levels.
"Our results showed that people feel less stressed when they check their mailbox less often," said Kostadin Kushlev, lead author of the study and PhD student. at the UBC Department of Psychology.
Changing this type of behavior may be easier said than done, though. "Most of the participants in our study found it very difficult to check their email just a couple of times a day," Kushlev explained. "People find it hard to resist the temptation to check email, but just resisting this temptation reduces stress."
Kushlev's inspiration for the study came from his personal experience with email overload. “Now I check my email in chunks several times a day rather than constantly replying to incoming messages. And I feel better and less stressed ”.
Finally, the expert notes that companies can help reduce employee stress, encouraging them to check their e-mails at set times rather than constantly turning their attention to incoming messages.
Would you be able to check your inbox only 3 times a day?
Marta Albè
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