Excessive Emailing Could Damage Worker’s Mental Health

Amy Taylor January 22, 2014

A new study by UK researchers suggests that workers obsessed with checking their emails could be damaging their own mental health, and that of their colleagues.

Researchers analysed 28 email users across different companies to see which habits had positive and negative influences on their working lives.

The team, led by Dr Emma Russell, an occupational psychologist at Kingston Business School, London, have identified seven deadly email sins that can lead to “negative repercussions’ if not handled correctly. These include the so-called “ping-pong” emails which refer to the constant emails back and forth creating long chains; emailing even beyond office hours, emailing whilst with company, ignoring emails completely, requesting read receipts, automated replies, and responding immediately to an email alert.

“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,” Dr Russell said.

“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 added.

Responding to emails beyond office hours, for instance, would give good impression to employers but it could also mean they would find it difficult to switch off.

“This puts pressure on staff to be permanently on call and makes those they are dealing with feel the need to respond,” Russell explained.

“This research reminds us that even though we think we are using strategies for dealing with our email at work, many of them can be detrimental to other goals and the people that we work with,”

Russell notes that some create a problem for the sender rather than the receiver, as they can lead to them giving out the wrong impression or not remaining in control of what they are doing. For example, having email alerts switched on and responding to email immediately can have positive benefits if one wants to show concern to the person who has emailed them. However, it may have negative repercussions in terms of the sender feeling that responding to emails is taking them away from other tasks and impacting on their sense of well-being.

Source of this article:

Ubiquitous Work E-Mails May Harm Mental Health