Reduce Stress by Taking Email Breaks
- 12 years ago
Reduce Stress by Taking Email Breaks - as part of the news and politics series by GeoBeats.
Most of us realize that we are addicted to the always connected world wide web in some form - facebook, email, twitter, youtube, or a combination of those.
Any addiction can be harmful mentally and physically and email addiction is no different.
A recent University of California, Irvine study concluded that by switching ourselves off from work email, we can actually focus more and reduce our stress in an office setting. The findings are noteworthy because generally we feel that we are working and engaged in a productive activity as long as we are checking our office email.
The UCI researchers attached heart monitors to participants and found that those who checked emails were constantly in a "high alert" state whereas employees without access to email had a more natural heart rate.
Multiple other studies have also suggested that multi-tasking is not as efficient as commonly believed.
Dr. David Meyer of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor notes in a health.com report that it actually takes longer to complete tasks because of the constant juggling. Many experts believe our brain can't process two complex tasks at the same time.
So if you think you'll do a quick email check in the middle of drafting your presentation, you might be better off checking emails in a batch after you have prepared the presentation.
Most of us realize that we are addicted to the always connected world wide web in some form - facebook, email, twitter, youtube, or a combination of those.
Any addiction can be harmful mentally and physically and email addiction is no different.
A recent University of California, Irvine study concluded that by switching ourselves off from work email, we can actually focus more and reduce our stress in an office setting. The findings are noteworthy because generally we feel that we are working and engaged in a productive activity as long as we are checking our office email.
The UCI researchers attached heart monitors to participants and found that those who checked emails were constantly in a "high alert" state whereas employees without access to email had a more natural heart rate.
Multiple other studies have also suggested that multi-tasking is not as efficient as commonly believed.
Dr. David Meyer of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor notes in a health.com report that it actually takes longer to complete tasks because of the constant juggling. Many experts believe our brain can't process two complex tasks at the same time.
So if you think you'll do a quick email check in the middle of drafting your presentation, you might be better off checking emails in a batch after you have prepared the presentation.