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Key takeaways

• Email should give you more control over your time, not less. When you check it constantly, you turn an asynchronous tool into a source of nonstop interruptions.
• Not every message deserves your best energy. Protect your most focused hours for your best work, and handle email when your attention is less fragile.
• Better email boundaries can help you feel more present and less reactive. Small habits, like creating email-free zones, can keep your inbox from running your day.

Instant messaging apps are popular in the workplace, but can you imagine running your business without email? is personal, reliable and allows you to retrieve even decades-old messages. And one of its best features is that it’s asynchronous, so in theory, it should give us more control over our time and attention.

But many professionals aren’t experiencing email that way. Recent found that:

• Almost three in four professionals feel pressure to respond to emails outside working hours.
• 70% check work email while on vacation, while roughly 80% admit to checking it during personal moments, whether in bed, while driving or even at major life events. 
• High earners are particularly likely to stay tethered to their inboxes – and they’re almost twice as likely as others to return from vacation feeling overwhelmed by a backlog of messages.

Clearing your inbox can feel productive. Every message you address gives you a sense of accomplishment. But going through emails can also drain your focus and keep you from doing uninterrupted work.

Here are five habits to protect your energy and prevent email from running your workdays.

1. Stop checking email as soon as you wake up

When you look at your email before you even touch the first cup of coffee, you’ve already handed control of your day to other people’s priorities. Instead of deciding what deserves your attention, you’re reacting to requests first thing in the morning.

Before you open your email, make time for something that helps you start the day on your own terms. You may enjoy spending a few minutes with your kids or pets. Or perhaps you find that focusing on a book, a workout or a short walk helps.

Whatever that activity is for you, protect it. That time you give yourself can help you approach the day with a greater sense of control.

2. Disable email notifications

Here’s the thing: if you’re already in the habit of checking your inbox throughout the day, you don’t need notifications reminding you that email exists. Chances are you’ll see new messages soon enough.

Disabling notifications is one of the simplest things you can do to use email more strategically. Those pings often create a sense of urgency that’s not really there. Every email competes for your attention and tempts you to abandon whatever you’re working on. And even if you don’t open the email right then, you’ll still be interrupted.

So don’t let incoming emails dictate your . Tell yourself you’ll check those new messages as soon as you finish your current task. 

3. Stop treating every email as urgent

We all do it: an email pops into our inbox, and we assume it needs a response right away. But most emails aren’t emergencies, and treating them as such will keep you in a constant state of reaction.

Before dropping what you’re doing to reply, ask yourself whether the message requires your attention right now. In many cases, it can wait until later or the next day. 

Reserve immediate responses for truly urgent matters. In time, you’ll learn to differentiate between genuine urgency and your tendency to react right away. 

4. Reserve your best hours for deep work 

Whether you’re a night owl or love waking up at 4 am, you likely have a window during the day when you do your best work. Don’t fill that window with email tasks that steal your focus.

Many productivity experts argue that getting things done is more about managing your energy than your time. Some projects require more mental effort than others, so it makes sense to tackle important work when your energy is at its peak.

The inbox will still be there later. 

5. Create email-free zones

Does your need to follow you everywhere? If you’re checking it in bed, at dinner, on vacation or while spending time with loved ones, consider creating a few email-free zones in your life. 

Start small. Maybe the bedroom is off-limits, or family dinners. On vacation, you can allow yourself a brief check-in once a day instead of constant monitoring.

Boundaries like these can help break the habit of reaching for your inbox whenever there’s a spare moment. It won’t take long until you’ll develop the ability to be fully present and truly enjoy your time away from work. 

Don’t let exceptions become your routine

There are times in the life of every entrepreneur when they need to keep a close eye on their inbox. Maybe you just sent an important pitch, or you’re about to close a deal. It’s understandable that you’d be checking your inbox more often than usual. But if you peek at your inbox out of habit, it’s worth trying a different approach. 

The goal isn’t to ignore your inbox. It’s to make sure it doesn’t dictate how you spend your day.