There is an almost irresistible pull to that signal, and although it varies from program to program, it means the same thing, "you've got mail!" It's really a necessary task, but for far too many people it's become a problem. It's not a new problem, but that's part of the problem, email is everywhere, so the problem grows. Here's a simple solution that works.
Everyone has written about this notion of "email addiction." Why would you read more about it? Two reasons: 1) the problem is growing with the exponential growth of email use, and 2) there is something you can do about it.
A growing problem
Late last year, I was listening to the technology radio program, Spark on CBC (the Canadian equivalent of NPR). The host, Nora Young, was interviewing Clay Shirky (you can hear the full interview here). Clay discussed many things, but one quote really jumped out at me. He said, "The really big changes don't happen when a technology gets launched, it's when people take the technology for granted." Clay was talking about a variety of social changes that these taken-for-granted technologies create.
I think an unexpected social consequence of these ubiquitous technologies is problematic use. The taken-for-granted nature of technologies like email means we can get very dependent, even addicted to the tool. This is particularly true, as Clay makes very clear in this interview, for tools that tap into our social motivations. Long before the advent of Web 2.0 social networking tools like Facebook, email was there to connect us with others, and it still does. This is a powerful technology that is now certainly taken for granted.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with staying connected, far from it. Community is important whether face-to-face or virtual. However, we can get too much of anything, and it's clear from the interest in this topic that lots of people think that their use of email is a problem, maybe even an addiction (although this whole notion of addiction is hotly debated).
A simple solution: Creative Commitment Devices
The thing with feeling like you're "addicted" to your email, is that you also feel like it's beyond your control. This is typical of addiction; you feel that you're compelled to "scratch that itch." It's stimulus and response. It's the worse kind of habit.
Lacking self-regulatory strength to overcome the habit, what is required is a creative commitment device. I've written about this before. A creative commitment device is simply a strategy to ensure you act in your best interest, despite your lack of willpower to follow through. Can't bring yourself to deposit money into your savings account monthly? A creative commitment device would be an automatic savings account that takes money from every pay deposit for your savings account. You don't have to have willpower to save monthly, it's done for you.
With the email situation, you think, "I should just shut my email off while I get some work done," or "I won't answer my email for the next 15 minutes," but you just can't bring yourself to do it. You need something more automatic.
The solution, Gmail's "Email addict" that forces you to "take a break." You'll find this add-on feature to Gmail under the "Labs" tab of "Settings." If you enable "Email Addict" a "Take a break" item will appear at the top right of your Gmail page. Click it and you'll be locked out of your mail for 15 minutes and made invisible on chat. (Unfortunately, refreshing your page defeats the feature.)
I really like the pop up window you get when you activate this feature. It reads,
"Break time! Take a walk, get some real work done, or have a snack. We'll be back in a minute!"
"Get some real work done" - they've got that right. Email is seductive. It makes us think that we're working when we're not always (of course, sometimes you are, and this variable ratio reward schedule shapes our behavior - Skinner taught us this long ago). Most of the time we end up leaving an important, but difficult or aversive, task with the self-assuring thought that "it will only take a minute to check my email." An hour later . . . you know how it goes. We "give in to feel good" and staying connected with others feels good, or at the very least, useful or productive. Unfortunately, it's out of control for many of us.
Gmail's Email Addict - it's worth a try, anything to break the habit when you can't seem to do it yourself. If you take that 15 minutes of forced disconnection, and "just get started" on the task at hand, you may be surprised at how good the focus feels and how you prime the pump for further work and enhanced well being.
A final caveat
Beware the ever-present danger of second-order procrastination . . . you may just procrastinate on clicking on that "take a break" link.
