Through a variety of circumstances, I ended up accidentally not checking any of my email accounts for an entire day. As an email addict, that’s a big thing. (And rather surprising that I didn’t notice I wasn’t getting email.)
Here’s what happened and why you should consider turning off that little beep each time an email comes in.
Read all about it here: What Happened When I Accidentally Turned Off My Email
When I was on maternity leave, I turned off the notifications for my work phone (I wasn’t eligible for FMLA so still had access). Since I’ve been back, I haven’t turned the notifications back on and I love it. Most of the time during the work day I have my computer and email notifications popping up there. If I have a day off or its the weekend, I can check my email at times where it is convenient for me. I’m a lot like you where I tend to take a peek at emails as soon as I get them otherwise!
After leaving a role that had me ‘on call’ 24/7, I made a commitment to myself that not every email requires a response immediately. So now, I do check my emails once a day on the weekend, but rarely after 5 pm during the week. Being in HR, I can’t quite separate myself completely, but, unless the issue is critical, it now waits until the next day. And, it its that critical, they know to call (but only if its critical!). Surprisingly, no one seems to mind this set up and respect my choice to separate from work when on ‘my time’. Go figure!