Email Detox… or Reduction

As I write this, I am looking out my window at some freshly fallen snow. Winter is still here, I know. But I see signs of spring. Two squirrels are chasing each other around an old pine tree and there are three gorgeous cardinals enjoying some birdseed that my daughters left for them. When I drove down my street earlier, I stopped to count fifteen robins in a neighbor's tree, busily eating red berries. "Spring is coming!", these woodland critters tell me. When it arrives, won't you want more time to spend with your children? I, for one, will definitely have more time to spend with Hope, Grace & Brendan because I've taken measures to reduce my email load. You can too. The 30-Day Email Detox by Katie Goodman (Excerpted from O Magazine, March 2008) "Stressed out from too much sending and replying, Katie Goodman did what the rest of us only dream of: Quit email cold turkey. Weeks later, she was a new (and much improved) woman. Take that, inbox!" My email was making me sick. No, I'm not paranoid that it was emitting cancer causing electricity. But whenever I opened my inbox, I noticed a creeping resentment. I had come to hate email for all the reasons anyone does. It interrupts and overwhelms. It causes stress. Email Reduction: For Email Junkies Ok, is a 30-Day Email Detox just too much for you to handle? Would your hand shake with longing for your mouse? Would your heart stop if you didn't see the tiny envelope at the bottom of your screen? Then I have the solution for you. I call it my Email Reduction Program. It can be life changing--if you let it. If you use Outlook for your email program, go to Tools and then click on Options. Next, click on Mail Setup. From there, click on Send/Receive and check the box that says "Schedule an automatic send/receive every __ minutes." Set it to 60 minutes and then click Close. Once you've gotten used to that, increase it to 90 minutes, then 120, then 180 and so on until it's sending/receiving twice daily. After the initial shock and "disconnected" feeling, you will slowly notice that you have so much free time. You will feel less scattered, less distracted. You will begin to see that life goes on without checking your email every 30 seconds. Since I did this, I have felt an enormous sense of relief. I never realized that I was a prisoner of email until I broke free. Spring is a time to start fresh, to start new. Let this be the first step you take! And if you feel like it, email me and let me know how you like your newfound free time. I promise, I'll reply...maybe when I'm done bird watching.