Batch-process emails and messages a few times per day
Original: eternity4719 · source details
Original author: eternity4719 · Chinese source: · English adaptation: parveen0029. Translation and grade notes ↗
Bibliographic titles are retained in their original language.
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Cost and benefit at a glance
- Check the cost Cost ↓
- No monetary cost. However, it takes some time to explain to colleagues how often you’ll be checking messages. It also requires a bit of willpower to resist the …
- Then the source benefit Benefit ↓
- In a two-week self-controlled trial involving 124 adults, those who limited email checks to three times daily experienced significantly lower daily stress than when they checked fr…
In plain terms
The same group of participants was studied over two weeks. During the week when they limited email checks to just three times per day, their daily stress levels dropped noticeably compared to the unrestricted week — while the total number of emails sent and received stayed the same. Without any limits, people checked their emails an average of 15.5 times per day.
This guide's cartoon · show illustration
Enlarge illustrationOriginal illustration with Chinese lettering; the English dialogue is below. Humour is a reading aid, not evidence.
English dialogue
- Just five minutes of rest.
- One more notification!
Cost: what it takes
No monetary cost. However, it takes some time to explain to colleagues how often you’ll be checking messages. It also requires a bit of willpower to resist the urge to check them constantly.
Benefit: what the source reports
In a two-week self-controlled trial involving 124 adults, those who limited email checks to three times daily experienced significantly lower daily stress than when they checked freely (effect size: Cohen’s d = 0.37). The overall volume of emails received and replied to did not differ between the two conditions. Without restrictions, participants checked emails 15.5 times per day on average.
Conditions, limits and disagreements
Only one study has examined this approach, showing a modest effect size. It measured stress levels rather than actual work output. No direct research exists on limiting instant messaging checks; this recommendation is extrapolated from similar email studies.
Original references
Original bibliographic titles and links are preserved; some titles are in Chinese.
Kushlev & Dunn (2015). Checking email less frequently reduces stress. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.005
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