Comments on: Why email is addictive (and what to do about it)

By: simonsimonnaes

simonsimonnaes — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 11:55:40 +0000

I strongly believe that one should start with limiting the amount of mail received. I’ve blogged about this here http://simon-simonnaes.blogspot.no/2012/09/distance-yourself-from-your-email.html. Once this is achieved then its is much easier to use email less as our unconsciousness knows there is nothing to look for in that inbox.

Simon

By: Lu

Lu — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:52:19 +0000

Now I’m gonna send me the link of this webpage by email…
Ho! I’ve got an email!

By: simonandfinn

simonandfinn — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:59:23 +0000

I liked this piece quite a bit… ! Thanks.. I re-blogged and added a little cartoon on it: http://simonandfinn.com/2012/04/09/and-the-reason-for-email-addiction-is/

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:58:10 +0000

Hi there
I really enjoyed this article and the posts, the premise put forward made a lot of sense. Further, the lack of focus that (for me) frequent e-mail checking engenders is concerning – previously I used to be able to sit at a computer for hours without getting distracted and now it’s a huge effort to not check email for even five minutes. Another aspect is the “check and read” email thing, but not respond, and then read again, and not respond.. etc.. which is a huge waste of time as emails get read more than once before a response is finally prepared. The only thing that would work for me is to consciously set it aside (for example I didn’t allow myself to check email while reading the article), and then my reward for finishing the article is to check email. Have been recognizing, though, that it really does add very little to my life.

By: tom

tom — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:10:27 +0000

Just to say that my use of the word “addictive” in this post was ill-advised.
Addiction has a proper medical meaning, and it is wrong to confuse it with the colloqual usage meaning, roughly, weakly compulsive or “more-ish”.
The state I’m talking about in this post is one of attentional biasing (due, I claim, to the learning schedule which email arrival generates), not one of significiant holistic distress that would characterise clinical addiction.
Vaughan, on this site, has written about addiction creep
“‘Internet addiction’ lacks validity finds another study”
http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/01/internet_addiction.html
and
“Addiction to addiction: the horrifying reality”
http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2008/05/addiction_to_addicti.html

By: annarose

annarose — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 06:03:20 +0000

I think Shinteetah definitely has a point – if checking our emails is a mission somehow, that’s a definite way to demotivate ourselves from bothering.
Another thing to consider which has not been mentioned but may also cause that compulsion to check your email is something along the lines of what Joe wrote about – the need to connect to someone.
Perhaps it’s not the receiving of emails itself, but the contact with a particular person who they are corresponding with or with the person themselves that some people become addicted to.
It’s also incredibly easy to slip into fantasy mode when you communicate in ways other than face to face. You may not even realise you are doing it, putting that person on a kind of pedestal, hanging out for your next ‘fix’. It really can feel like an addiction.
I stumbled across a book recently which you may find interesting if this is the reason you believe you are compulsively checking your emails. ‘Facing Love Addiction’ by Pia Mellody
What she writes about does make a lot of us who think our relationships ressemble a soap opera look like so-called love addicts but it might help you look objectively at your own behaviour and help you decide for yourself if it needs modifying.

By: Libby

Libby — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:35:36 +0000

Hey I found you this while I was looking for other sites who have covered email addiction, you have some really great points. My boss just covered this today in conjunction with an email addiction survey. Check it out-
http://www.reginalewis.com/2007/07/26/are-you-addicted-to-email/#comments
Libby, ReginaLewis.com

By: Ralph

Ralph — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:08:18 +0000

Sorry, something went wrong there. Here’s a repeat of my earlier comment:
I was fascinated by your thoughts on e-mail addiction.
I have been doing research on the subject. A while ago I wrote a survey article – as it has had an excellent response it might be of interest to you. There is a link below.
Best wishes,
Ralph
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00012530210697707

By: Ralph

Ralph — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:03:38 +0000

I was fascinated by your comments on e-mail addiction.
I have been doing research on the subject and thought I’d mention a survey article that I wrote a while ago – as it has had an excellent response it might interest. There is a link.
Best wishes,
Ralph
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00012530210697707

By: Paul Gossen

Paul Gossen — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:34:13 +0000

Great article and discussion. I am an executive coach and training and I have conducted many programs on reducing email addiction. Here is a recent post:
Just say no, to email addiction. In a recent Symantec survey, 21% of executives admitted to being email dependent – compulsively checking their e-mail and panicking when they can’t. Email addicts suffer a 10-point drop in IQ, more than twice the drop recorded by marijuana users concluded a clinical trial of over a thousand participants by HP and the University of London. They found email addicts developed an inability to distinguish between trivial and important messages. 20% consistently jeopardized important relationships by “checking their messages” in the middle of a conversation. Moreover word ‚ÄúCrackberry‚Äù can now be found in the Oxford Dictionary.
I have a free mini-ebook, End Email Addiction, available for download at http://www.businesstransformed.com/end email addiction.pdf
Thanks Paul