Powerback 45: Quitting Email on Nights and Weekends

There are two types of people in the world. There are the people that have a Zero Inbox (or just a couple), and then there are the people with 8,497 emails in their inbox — all unread. Email has quickly become one of our primary forms of communication and man is it a slippery slope. Tone can get lost, details can get overseen, and it can create a disconnect between people.

Today we're going to talk about the crippling need to answer our emails at any given time of any given day. When I first started Worx back in 2007, I felt like I had to answer emails all day and all night. I mean, people needed something from me, right? They were sending me a message, which meant that they requested a response from me. And in my head, I assumed they needed it.

In that instant, I thought I was being a better business person. I thought I was a better communicator. And I thought that I was helping them. Turns out what I was actually doing was training them on what they can expect from me, and that was an immediate response. So then when I would go a few hours — or heaven forbid a day or two — without responding to them: What's wrong is something going on? Why haven't you responded to me? It created anxiety and stress for both of us.

It actually took me a couple of years to undo that training I did with those clients and create a new standard for myself and the way I communicated. I set up a new expectation by not answering people immediately, by not answering them at nighttime, and most certainly not answering on the weekend.

If you're in the type of business where it's required for you to be on email over the weekend, for instance, if you're on call, then yeah — you're probably gonna need to be checking your emails. But if you're running a business or working within a business that is not requiring that of you yet, you have created that standard for yourself. You have inflicted a lot more stress on your life than is necessary, and guess what? The beautiful thing is you have the power to change that.

This week, I want you to take your power back by turning off the notifications on your email, on your phone, and not checking your email at nighttime or on weekends.

There's an anxiety that comes with it: Am I missing out to somebody who needs something from me? But after a few weeks and doing this on a regular basis, it became the new norm. I undid a habit that I had created myself. And you want to know something? It is so freeing to not be bogged down with the need to check email.

Keep in mind if it's THAT important, someone will pick up the phone and then you can handle it if that scenario arises. The easiest way I have found to not feel like I have to check those emails day and night, night and weekend, is simply by turning off the notifications. When it's not dinging and binging, when it's not popping up while you're in the middle of doing something for dinner, the feeling of urgency starts to go away. And after some time, you too can break that habit.

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