Don?t risk mental health, avoid 7 deadly em ail sins
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[VijayKudal] Don?t risk mental health, avoid 7 deadly em ail sins
Don’t risk mental health, avoid 7 deadly email sins
London:
Scientists have identified seven deadly email sins that can lead to
‘negative repercussions’ at the workplace if not handled correctly.
Workers obsessed with checking their emails could be damaging their own
mental health and that of their colleagues, according to research at
London’s Kingston University.
Occupational
psychologist Dr Emma Russell set to find out which email practices
stress employees out and identified seven ‘deadly email sins’.
These
include Ping pong — constant emails back and forth creating long
chains, emailing out of hours, emailing while in company, ignoring
emails completely, requesting read receipts, responding immediately to
an email alert and automated replies.
“Back
in the dial-up era, when going online had a cost implication, most
people checked email maybe once a day and often responded to mails as
soon as they read them,” said Russell.
“Now
with broadband and 3G, unlimited numbers of messages can be streamed
to you via your smartphone at any time of the day or night. However
many of us haven’t adapted our behaviour to what can seem like a
constant stream of mails,” she said.
Responding
to out of hours emails, for instance, may make an employee look keen
but it can also mean workers find it difficult to switch off, according
to the study. “This puts pressure on staff to be permanently on call
and makes those they are dealing with feel the need to respond,”
Russell explained.
“Some
workers became so obsessed by email that they even reported
experiencing so-called ‘phantom alerts’ where they think their phone has
vibrated or bleeped with an incoming email when in fact it has not.
“Others
said they felt they needed to physically hold their smartphone when
they were not at their desk so that they were in constant email
contact,” she said. Email ping pong, where messages are responded to
immediately by both sides until a very long chain builds up, are
particularly hated by many of those involved.