People who check their e-mail constantly are doing themselves a disservice. According to a recent study done by scientists at the University of British Columbia, frequent checking of e-mail causes stress and irritability.
The research was conducted by scientists at the University of British Columbia.
124 participants, comprised of undergrad and grad students, doctors, professors and others, were split into two groups. For the first week, one group was told to limit their e-mail checks to three times a day and turn off all new mail notifications.
Meanwhile, the other half was instructed to check their e-mail as frequently as they wanted.
During the second week, the groups switched tasks.
Afterwards, participants reported feeling less stressed when they had limited e-mail access, which the researchers say predicts a “greater well-being”.
When they checked their inbox frequently, no one reported feeling more productive than when they were limited to three times a day.
According to Art Markman, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, "When you check email in the middle of doing another task, you are increasing stress, because you are imposing a high cognitive load."
It's recommended that instead of continuously checking e-mails throughout the day, certain times should be allocated for the task.
This study, along with previous research in multi-tasking, suggests that checking e-mail constantly can be both a distraction, and stress-inducing.
