E-mail usage to reduce your stress levels. 3 great ways to deal with remote communication

How to reduce your stress levels while using an e-mail account? Do you know that the way of using e-mail can significantly increase anxiety levels? It might seem that e-mail is first and foremost a convenience. It allows fast communication between the employees and the external entities, but at the same time, it creates technostress for the users.

E-mail usage – table of contents:

1. Reduce your stress levels
2. Try a different form of contact
3. Don’t send e-mails on Fridays
4. Communicate clearly and simply
5. Summary

Reduce your stress levels

Use only your business phone. Your phone should be available for contact only for 8 hours of work, and later switched off – this rule should be used by people, who wish to keep the balance between their private and professional life. Such actions as switching off the e-mail after working time (companies can use those functions), delaying parcel’s delivery (scheduling the shipping to the morning hours of the next working day), or planning the steady hours of post mail receiving allow care for the mental health during your work and in your free time.

Remember to avoid installing e-mails (or other company messaging services) on your private telephone. It is inappropriate for many reasons, it is not safe for the security of sensitive data, and on the other side – it affects your well-being and the ability to rest after work.

Try a different form of contact

How many times have you posted an e-mail to your colleague or partner and waited even several days for the response, even if the issue was simple and not very difficult to deal with? As you see, some people like to wait with their response every time and this can frustrate the person, who is waiting.

How can you address the problem? You can try to contact the person directly (if it is only possible) call, or use the company’s instant messenger, which allows a fast display of messages – do anything to sort out the problem and get it over with.

E-mail is not the best solution usually, even if we are thinking that it is the best form of contact with the employees or business partners. One should consider carefully this issue in case of communication, which can trigger negative emotions – while reading the messages we interpret them by imagining the tone of voice and interlocutor’s attitude. In many situations, even in the contemporary digital era, direct communication can bring better effects.

Don’t send e-mails on Fridays

Treat others the same way, as you would like to be treated – this rule should apply to all the messages sent after working hours. If you don’t like the sound of an e-mail that comes after 6 pm or later, stop sending them yourself. Regardless if you are a regular employee, a manager, or you work together with your partner, you should not show your availability. It is not only unhealthy but disrupts the rhythm of the day of the persons, you cooperate with.

It is worth remembering to avoid sending e-mails on Friday afternoons. It is difficult to expect that a person will respond quickly to our e-mail just several hours before the coming weekend – many employees present the attitude that: it can wait until Monday morning. If only one can wait for the response, one can wait with the sending of the e-mail, especially since everybody starts the week with additional energy after the weekend’s rest.

Communicate clearly and simply

You have probably written an email with several questions and issues that needed to be explained, but you still have not received any answer. This situation (especially if you have been waiting for the response) increases the level of stress. Unfortunately, you have to be prepared that, this type of problem will occur from time to time – sometimes even more often than you have expected. How to deal with it?

First and foremost, write the subject of the message clearly, then compose an e-mail, thinking about keeping a clear and simple way of communication. Sometimes, it will force you to limit the subject of the e-mail. You have to think thoroughly, about which issue is the most important for you, and which can be dealt with at a later time (using other forms of communication).

Summary

Rapidly developing technology has brought many great things as regards the facilitation of everyday communication both private and professional. At the same time, we have been faced with many challenges, especially connected with the fact of being permanently available.

E-mail messages arrive constantly in our mailbox – during work, in our free time, or even on holidays – which is an example of work-life balance distortion. Hence it is worth encouraging the employees to use all above-mentioned hints and tips, remembering that in all cases the example is better when it comes from the top.

Read also: How to reduce digital stress working remotly

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