Five ways to manage your email for improved productivity.

Clinical trials conducted by King’s College London University have found that we lose up to 10 IQ points when we interrupt our work to check email. “That’s more than being stoned on weed,” says Ms Jocelyn K Glei, author of Unsubscribe: How To Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, And Get Real Work Done.

The drug analogy is apt. “One of the reasons email is so addictive is because it operates like a slot machine, or what neuroscientists call a random reward system,” says Ms Glei. “Most of the email you receive will be junk or a bothersome work request. But sometimes you’ll get something exciting, such as a flattering invitation. It’s this random reward that makes email so addictive. It activates a primal impulse in our brain to seek out reward.”

According to the Harvard Business Review, the average worker spends up to eight hours per week on email, dipping into their inboxes an average of 74 times a day. Fifty per cent of the emails managers read and respond to are irrelevant to their work.

Realising the effect that email is having on us is just the first step to gaining control of it. Here are Ms Glei’s tips for not only cutting down the amount of time we spend on email, but also for becoming more effective and efficient e-communicators, thereby making the lives of our colleagues that little bit better.

One of the ways we can beat the random reward trap is by getting our dopamine hit from real rewards, ie, doing the work we care about. The desire for random rewards is most likely to take hold when we’re feeling aimless, and the way to beat it is by writing a to-do list before starting work. “This empowers you to kick off the working day with clarity and momentum,” says Ms Glei. “It means you have a framework for the day’s priorities in place before you check your email, allowing you to weigh any incoming requests against what you’ve already planned to accomplish. Be realistic as you craft your to-do list. Crossing everything off is your reward, and it will also reinforce the positive behaviour.”

Completion bias is the second underlying force that makes email addictive. Our brains give us a juicy hit of dopamine when we get to “inbox zero” because the visual signs of progress offered by email sets off our reward system: 200 emails, 150 emails... 0 emails. Aahhhh! The key to using completion bias to your advantage is to visualise signs of progress in the work you care about. “It’s easy to see progress on meaningless technology-based tasks, whereas it’s difficult to keep track of complex, long-term creative projects that will have the most impact on our lives,” says Ms Glei. “When I’m writing a book, I keep a visual record of the number of words I’ve written each day on a calendar. Designers could stick prototypes or drafts up on the wall.”

According to Ms Glei, there are two types of emailers: reactors, who react to emails as and when they arrive, allowing it to nibble away at their time, and batchers, who set aside specific chunks of the day to send and respond to emails. “To get yourself into the groove of batching, I recommend setting aside two to three blocks of 30 to 45 minutes per day for checking email,” she says. For important clients or bosses who expect a faster response, Gmail and Android have VIP notification options, which will alert you when they email.

According to Mr Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence and a leading scientist in the field of emotional intelligence, there is a negativity bias to email hardwired into us at a neural level. This means that if the tone of an email is neutral, we automatically assume the tone is negative. “This point relates particularly to men, who have a bias towards a just-the-facts approach, which they associate with efficiency,” says Mr Goleman. “Use positive language, express some personality and opinion to increase your chances of a response, especially when you’re reaching out to someone you don’t know.” Anything that helps to lighten the tone, including emoticons, is permissible.

Why you? Why me? Framing any request with these two questions in mind will help you get to the nub of your email much more efficiently, while still retaining a sense of charm. “Make sure you’re being concise,” says Ms Glei. “Lead with the request, establish your credibility and explain why it’s relevant to them. Set up the next step clearly and set a deadline. Busy people love deadlines because it allows them to prioritise.”

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