In a recent report featured on Science Daily, occupational psychologist Dr. Emma Russell from London’s Kingston University highlighted several negative email messaging behaviors that many people have been subscribing to.
Based on data on 28 different email users across several companies, she lists down what she calls the “seven deadly email sins.”
They are as follows: ping pong email messaging, sending email after office hours, sending email while with other people, ignoring email messages completely, requesting read receipts, responding immediately to an email alert, and using automated replies for everything.
“This research reminds us that even though we think we are using strategies for dealing with our email at work, many of them can be detrimental to other goals and the people that we work with,” explains Dr. Russell.
“Some workers became so obsessed by email that they even reported experiencing so-called ‘phantom alerts’ where they think their phone has vibrated or bleeped with an incoming email when in fact it has not. Others said they felt they needed to physically hold their smartphone when they were not at their desk so that they were in constant email contact.”
In order to avoid being email-obsessed, it’s important to consciously disconnect from the office after working hours. Learning to separate one’s personal and professional time is the key to achieving life satisfaction.
(Photo by ludwig van standard lamp via Flickr Creative Commons)
