3 Keys to Overcome Email Overload – Part 7c: Mental health & well being
This is the 14th in a series of blog posts designed to help you recognise the profound and far-reaching impact email overload has in your life and to offer solutions to help you overcome the challenges it presents.
There are 7 Critical Impacts of Information & Email Overload.
Impact #7: Mental Health & Well-being
The impact of email overload extends beyond the borders of the workplace. It also impacts our mental health and well-being. Keeping up with all the new inputs we receive from a wide range of technological devices takes up a lot of our time each day. This occurs not only at work but also during our personal time; we’re communicating ourselves into a frenzy. And it’s affecting our health in several ways - one of these impacts is;
Lowered IQ
It seems workers are literally addicted to checking email and text messages during meetings, in the evening and at weekends. The advent of highly mobile technology offers massive productivity benefits when used responsibly, but inappropriate use can be negative for not just productivity but also for our IQ.
The findings of a recent scientific experiment reveal that those who “over juggle” and who constantly disrupt meetings and important tasks to read and respond to messages, significantly reduce their IQ.
In a series of tests carried out by Dr Glenn Wilson, Reader in Personality at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, an average worker’s functioning IQ falls ten points when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming emails. This drop in IQ is more than double the four point drop seen following studies on the impact of smoking marijuana. Similarly, research on sleep deprivation suggests that an IQ drop of ten points is equal to missing an entire night of sleep.
In may ways, the modern, open-plan workplace mitigates against us being productive - it may actually 'dumb down' the workforce! Employees are very likely to be working significantly below their potential because of the enviroment they are trying to work in!
Why this ezine/blog?
Email is the #1 productivity killer - many say it’s the single biggest waster of time in the modern workplace. It occupies 2.6 hours a day, but 25-28% of this time is unproductive. And volumes are increasing, despite the rise and rise of social media and other collaborative tools.
More and more, email has taken over your day, your week, your work, your life! This series of ezines is designed to help you recognise the profound and far-reaching impact email overload has in your life and offer solutions to help you overcome the challenges it presents.
The aim is to restore email to its rightful place as a facilitator of improved productivity, so that you are the master and it is the slave (rather than the other way round).
All the best!