Why constant email checking drains energy

The Cost of Constant Connectivity: Finding Balance in a Digital World In today’s always-on culture, being an entrepreneur can feel like there’s no escape—from your inbox, your phone, or your clients. One of the hardest parts about being your own boss is feeling like you can never truly unplug. The moment you start your own consultancy, everything becomes urgent—clients expect responses at all hours, and networking feels like an around-the-clock necessity. But here’s what I’ve realised: This constant connectivity isn’t just unhealthy—it’s counterproductive. The more I stayed glued to my phone, the less productive I actually became. I was always “on” but not always “present.” I started to notice the toll it was taking on me. I’d wake up and check emails before even getting out of bed. At dinner, I was scrolling through LinkedIn, checking who I needed to follow up with. On weekends, I felt guilty if I wasn’t responding to a client query. It wasn’t sustainable. The turning point One weekend, I decided to experiment with something drastic: I turned off all notifications on my phone for 48 hours. No email, no social media, no news alerts. What I expected to feel was panic. What I actually felt was relief. For the first time in months, I didn’t feel tethered to my phone. And when I returned to work on Monday, I was sharper, more focused, and far more productive than I’d been in weeks. My lesson learned: Turn off notifications outside work hours. Schedule specific times to check emails and limit your social media use. The world won’t end if you take time for yourself - and when you come back, you’ll be more effective and energised. My key takeaway: Being constantly available doesn’t equate to being productive. In fact, you need downtime to bring your best self to your business. Share your thoughts or tips for finding balance in the comments below! #SelfCare #Connectivity #PersonalDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #Entrepreneur

I was drafting work emails at 11:47 PM when it hit me: I wasn't being productive. I was being a productivity zombie. The scary part? I felt PROUD of myself for "staying ahead of the game." Here's what I've learned: We don't have a time management problem. We have an energy management problem. The productivity industry has sold us a lie... that if we just optimize harder, we'll finally get ahead of our workload. But what actually happens? We optimize ourselves into exhaustion. The data backs this up: The average knowledge worker checks email every 6 minutes, switches between apps 1,100+ times daily, and works 8.7 hours of overtime weekly... yet feels less productive than ever. Sound familiar? That's why I developed the PACE Framework: 🅟 - Protect Your Prime Hours (guard your natural energy peaks) 🅐 - Audit Your Energy Drains (track what actually depletes you) 🅒 - Create Non-Negotiable Boundaries (with real consequences) 🅔 - Establish Recovery Rituals (genuine energy restoration) This isn't about productivity hacks. It's about energy management over time management. In my latest newsletter, I share the full PACE system plus the exact moment I realized I'd become my own worst manager... demanding, unreasonable, and completely dismissive of work-life boundaries. I also created a Free Energy Audit Template that walks you through: ✅ 7-day energy tracking system ✅ Pattern analysis framework ✅ Drain elimination action plans ✅ 30-day implementation tracker Because here's the truth: Your energy is your most valuable professional asset. In a world of layoffs and uncertainty, the professionals who thrive aren't the ones who work the most hours... they're the ones who protect their energy and build sustainable systems. Read the full breakdown here: https://lnkd.in/gc9_hGTM And if you're ready to stop optimizing yourself into exhaustion, subscribe to continue your journey in building layoff culture resilience by reclaiming your professional identity beyond job titles. What's your biggest energy drain right now? Let me know in the comments 👇 P.S. The Energy Audit Template alone has helped many professionals reclaim 5-10 hours per week of meaningful energy. It's completely free with the newsletter. ⸻ ➕ Follow Nathan Pearce for more on Layoff Culture resilience. 🖇️ Get detailed guides from our newsletter: rfsh.co/newsletter

We’ve all been there — the compulsive need to respond to every email, check every Slack channel, and scan every Figma file. It's as if our professional worth depends on being omnipresent in the digital world. The reality is, we’re fighting a constant battle for our attention, with endless notifications and distractions vying to pull us away from what truly matters. Protecting and prioritizing your attention is the most important thing you can do for your focus and well-being. But this constant state of alertness comes at a cost: your focus, energy, and ability to lead. Here’s the hard truth: You can’t do it all, and more importantly, you shouldn’t try to. The most effective leaders and innovators excel not by being everywhere, but by making purposeful tradeoffs and reclaiming control over their time and energy. I learnt it the hard way too! So here are some actionable tips (which I have been personally experimenting with) on how to trade FOMO for FOCUS: 🔄 Identify Your Non-Negotiables What directly impacts your goals? Focus there first. Be intentional about how you spend your time. 🛡️ Recognize Your Energy Drains Not every task is worth your mental bandwidth. Cut or delegate the noise. Saying no can be the most effective tool in arsenal. 🌈 Spot Growth Opportunities Lean into activities that stretch you and contribute to long-term success. In the end, what will matter most is how much you’ve grown. 🌐 Build an Information Triage System Set boundaries, prioritize inputs, and practice strategic ignorance — trust that critical information will find its way to you. The result? Less stress, more space for deep work, and stronger leadership. You’ll focus on what truly matters, rather than reacting to every ping and notification. ✨ Pro Tip: Next time you feel the urge to check that email or notification, pause and ask: “Is this the best use of my attention right now?”

YOU’VE LOST WORK-LIFE BALANCE. GOOD. NOW TAKE IT BACK. You check emails the moment you wake up. Reply to every message like it’s urgent. Feel guilty for stepping away—even for ten minutes. You’re not lazy. You’re just wired to be “always on.” Because somewhere along the way, you started believing that’s what success demands. Here’s what I’ve realised: This isn’t productivity. It’s addiction. Most people don’t know how to tell urgent from unimportant. So everything feels urgent. And that’s how your day, your energy, your clarity gets hijacked. Work-life balance isn’t about time. It’s about boundaries. And those boundaries start with your phone. Put it down during meetings. Put it down during meals. Put it down during walks, at the gym, or anything that’s yours. You can check it in 30 minutes. The world will still be there. But your mind will be quieter. Sharper. Yours. If you’re stuck with a boss who expects you to be always-on that’s a different issue. But most of the time, it’s not them. It’s the story you’re telling yourself. So, here’s what I suggest: Train yourself to pause. Not just your hands but your head. Create space for thought. Space for nothing. Space for you. Stop being available to everyone. Start being available to yourself. Because no one will protect your energy for you. You must do it first.

This mindset shift is the only way I know to “get back to it” without burning out. If I'm out sick, on vacation, or off speaking at an event — whatever the reason — I always come back to regular life and hit the WALL. You know the wall. The wall of missed emails, of unread notifications, of (gasp) pings... (All the pings!) It’s tempting to throw yourself at that wall, hoping to knock it down. What I've learned to do instead is (1) set priorities by looking FORWARD (what tasks do I have coming up, that I need to prioritize); and (2) block protected time to triage backlog, rather than STARTING with backlog, or, worse, dipping in and out all day. Some inspiration on this: ✨ Teresa Amabile’s work, featured in Harvard Business Review, shows that the single most powerful factor affecting an individual's "inner work life" (a mix of perceptions, emotions, and motivation) is progress in meaningful work. (I don't know about you, but for me, that wall of unread emails doesn't hit high on the "meaningful" scale.) ✨ Roy Baumeister’s research on decision fatigue reminds us that every micro-choice (what email to open, what ping to answer) drains mental energy, leaving us with less capacity for the work that matters most. I think that's why I find it so helpful to identify key priorities FIRST, and to work on those. Then, I block time later to triage the backlog. (Using the two minute method; if it'll take less than two minutes, do it, but more than two minutes, add to a list.) That way, instead of fighting through my backlog all day long, I've hit priority items FIRST when my energy is high, then I'm careful with blocks of time to tackle the rest. ✨ And Oliver Burkeman, in his book Meditations for Mortals, urges us to “operate from sanity” — to wipe the slate clean and consciously choose what matters today, instead of being crushed by the infinite backlog. I use that work as a reminder that I can get to "Inbox zero" anytime by moving all my email backlog into a folder to review later. There, inbox zero! So don’t let the backlog set the terms. Your goal isn’t to clear history; it’s to create momentum. 🙌 If you want more, check out my recent Substack on this topic; just search for The Science of Getting There. #careerdevelopment #professionaldevelopment #productivity #leadershipdevelopment #workplacetips #goalsetting #achievement #focus #growthmindset #publicspeaking #inspirationdaily #worklifebalance #timemanagement #authenticleadership #womeninbusiness #businessmindset #linkedincommunity #professionalgrowth #priorities #deepwork #speakerlife #careerbranding #clarity #getstarted

Want to do more in less time? Stop this bad habit. It's draining your time... It is context - switching. Your "quick check" of email between tasks? It's costing you 23 minutes of deep focus. Every time you proudly "multitask," you're actually forcing your brain through a complete reboot cycle. The real cost = 23 minutes to refocus after each interruption. I used to be proud of my multitasking skills. Until I tracked my time and found a shocking truth: I was finishing half as much work as I thought. ——— The solution? Task batching. It's a science-backed technique that groups similar tasks together to complete in dedicated time blocks. Here's why it works: Mental energy ↳ Your brain uses glucose when switching tasks. Batch similar activities to preserve it. Attention residue ↳ When you switch tasks, part of your focus stays stuck on the previous activity. Batching eliminates this problem. Flow state activation ↳ Working on similar tasks for 25+ minutes triggers your brain's flow state. Productivity jumps significantly. ——— How to start batching today: Bucket your tasks ↳ Communication (emails, calls, messages) ↳ Creative work (writing, designing, planning) ↳ Administrative (scheduling, filing, expenses) Assign specific time blocks ↳ Schedule 60-90 minute blocks for each category ↳ Match high-energy tasks with your peak performance times ↳ Protect these blocks strictly Create transition rituals ↳ 5 minutes between batches to reset ↳ Stand up, stretch, or practice quick deep breathing ↳ This signals to your brain that you're switching gears I now batch all my emails into 30-minute blocks: morning, noon, and evening. The result? I finish in half the time with twice the focus. P.S: Which task steals most of your focus during the day? Emails, meetings, or something else? ——— 🗞 If you like this, you'll love my newsletter, The Saturday Cha It'll help you make time for what matters. Read by leaders from Tesla, Oracle & other companies.