Do You Need E-Mailers Anonymous?

by Traci Anderson | More from this Blogger

21 Feb 2007 12:54 AM

Hi, my name is Traci and I am addicted to e-mail.

In a previous post, I offered a few tips for managing your e-mail. While I try to follow my own suggestions, I learned a few more tips today that I wanted to share with you...and try myself.

I have an e-mail program that shows the latest breaking news stories each time I log in to check my mail. Ironically, when I was checking my mail for the fifteenth time today, the headline was; "First AA, Then NA... Now Emailers Anonymous?"

According to the Reuters News Network, an executive coach in Pennsylvania has devised a twelve step program to help people who are addicted to checking their e-mail.

As I was reading the story, I wondered if home-based workers could be more susceptible to this e-mail addiction. Our home lives and our business lives are often inseparable.

For instance, last night, I was making a casserole for my kids with my laptop propped up next to the baking dishes. If you were watching me you would have thought that the recipe read; "brown chicken and check e-mail", "chop potatoes and check e-mail"... "bake at 350 for 25 minutes while you respond to your e-mails".

At least the e-mail addicts who work away from home can get a bit of a break from the work-related e-mayhem. That's not the case for those of us who are managing a home-based business and household at the same time.

Here are a few additional tips I learned to help manage an e-mail addiction.

First, admit you have a problem. Well, here it goes. I am admitting it to 20,000 Families.com readers. I have a problem. Next...

Create a file for mail that needs to be handled later, and answer "quick and simple" e-mails immediately. Sometimes a full in-box is just as stressful as having a pile of bills sitting on my desk. Put your e-mail into folders. Out of site, out of mind, right?

Set aside specific times for checking e-mail. Personally, I should be checking e-mail when my kids are napping or in bed for the evening. Instead, I often check it during their baths, morning cartoons and those rare moments they are playing quietly together. (Oh...and while I am making tuna-noodle casserole).

Limit the number of times you check your e-mail. The article suggests you should limit your e-mail checking sessions to three or four daily. I have a close friend that quite literally sets aside specific hours that she checks her mail. For example...from 8-8:30 a.m., 11 - 11:30 p.m. and 8 - 8:30 p.m. This is a wonderful way to ensure that you are offering timely responses to your messages without feeling bogged down every time you hear the "You've Got Mail" guy announce a new message.

Do you have any tips to share on managing your e-mail? Are you ready to admit your own e-mail addiction? Share your story and advice with us in the comments section.

Related Reading: How to Check Your E-mail While Driving Are Your Business Practices Saving Time or Wasting Time?

Learn more about Traci Anderson

Traci is a work-at-home-mom (WAHM) from beautiful Big Sky Country (Montana). She spends most of her time trying to keep up with two extremely energetic (but hysterical) Irish twins.

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