No, Don’t Check Email

The brain of an information worker is an incredible thing. At any given moment you have many active threads taking up brain capacity: the thing you’re currently working on, the major project you know is due soon but you haven’t given enough time it, the 4 or 5 ideas that this time you REALLY want to execute, the person that just Slacked you a question, and the fact that you need to tell your partner you’ll need to travel next week last minute. Personally, when I’m at full speed like this it feels like my head is humming with all of that processor work. As you plough forward at full speed with your engines working at 120% capacity, you look forward to that future time when you’ve decided to take some days off. You dream about being able to shutdown your brain for a while so that it’s not so overly active and the hum stops. ?

And then that time comes. And sure, you mark your calendar as being out, so you don’t get scheduled into any meetings. And you turn on your automatic out of office notifications. BUT - one of the things you look forward to is the fact that when you wake up later than usual, you’ll spend just an hour working through all of those pesky emails. You tell yourself this will save you from having to deal with so many unanswered emails when you return. You’ll return all fresh and rested but up to speed and ready to start right away.

Except, not really.

You see, the minute you open that first email, all of that brain activity just starts. It’s habit. You’re so used to your brain working with so many threads going on in parallel, that it’s just normal to keep going like that. Even if you just glance at a subject line on your phone while you’re out with your family, it happens. The brain starts processing on all of that work stuff again. Thoughts of that long term project and the 4-5 ideas and that last Slack question get pulled out of memory, and your brain begins working on them. Which means that, even though you’re not at work, well… you are. And that rest you dreamed of getting? You’re not getting any of it. ?

Imagine what would happen if in fact you didn’t check email. Not once. Now, I’m not going to give you that spiel about how no one is that important. You already know that. But work is purpose. Purpose gives meaning to life. So, I get it. Reading that email is meaningful. But so is NOT reading it. Not reading it is actually more meaningful. If you allow yourself to stop all of those threads going on in your brain for even one day, you’ll start to actually know what it means to rest. You’ll find that doing it for more than one day is even more restful. Peaceful even. At one point, you’ll suddenly notice that you feel lighter, as if you had been wearing a backpack full of bricks that you just removed and put down. You breathe easier. You smile, unprompted, for no reason other than you’re alive and at rest.

When you do return to work, you’ll notice getting through that long list of emails isn’t that bad. You’ll find that beginning work on the long-term project just happens. You feel motivated. You even start to bring to life 1 of those 4-5 ideas. You’ll have energy and drive.

So, as you approach your next scheduled time off, I challenge you. NO, don’t check email. Do nothing related to your job, your career, that thing that gives you meaning. You’ll find that you will get more meaning from the time, and your work will be better for it.