Four simple rules to beat email stress

THEY are one of the biggest distractions of office life, pinging into your inbox every few minutes.

But putting off dealing with your emails may only add to your stress, a review of more than 40 academic studies has found.

It identifies four key steps to keep people from drowning in email. The first is to deal with and clear email when you check it. The second is to switch off email alerts which pop up on the screen. Instead, check your inbox around every 45 minutes.

Office workers are advised to use the ‘delay send’ function out of hours, so they can send messages efficiently without imposing on others. The final tip is to make sure emails have a purpose and are efficient.

The review author, Dr Emma Russell, of Kingston Business School, said: ‘People use email to help them get their jobs done. Most people say they couldn’t imagine being able to do their work effectively without it and very few send non-work critical email during their working day.’

The review tackles three myths. One is emails are a time-wasting distraction from ‘real’ work. Another is we should check email just a few times a day – this makes people feel less in control.

The third myth is emails stop us getting on well with others due to ‘back- covering’ such as cc’ing in colleagues, but keeping workmates informed and in the loop helps relations.