Take a breath and enjoy your breakfast, those emails can wait.
At least that’s what experts are recommending. When you’re scrolling through your inbox at the breakfast table to get an early start when working from home, it can actually reduce your productivity overall, says Carson Tate, Working Simply’s managing partner.
She explains that instead of your emails (and their senders) dictate your priorities, focus on thinking about your own needs what you should be focusing on. Constantly letting other needs cut into your personal life can throw off that focus and cause disarray. This is especially intrusive when the work bleeds into their personal life.
And many of us slip into this slump unknowingly and the problem festers day-by-day unnoticed. When you catch yourself doing the following, maybe it’s time to reevaluate whether that new notification takes precedence over your scrambled eggs.
- Obsessing over emotionally-charged messages during a meal.
- Hitting the inbox right after dismissing the morning alarm.
- Gluing your eyes to the screen when rocking your baby to sleep.
- Keeping tabs on email chains before brushing your teeth.