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Physiological Impact of Email
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The Physiological Impact of Email
An overlooked aspect of the workplace is the physiological impact of email.
Loughborough University study
- A study carried out by the University of Loughborough found that effects included increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol rates and candidates’ perceived stress.
- This was accompanied by additional wider implications of email abuse, with examples of management via email as opposed to face-to-face meetings, social detachment of staff and lots of emails to confirm discussions or meetings had taken place in a ‘cover-your back’ approach to duties.
Impact on work productivity
- In addition, email interruption took a greater-than-expected amount of time, which impacted work productivity, an aspect somewhat overlooked by research study:
- If you are checking emails during lessons because you feel there isn’t a choice, how is your teaching impacted as a result?
- If you are reading over a deadline-enforcing email at home, how might this affect your mood, or your ability to focus on other things as a consequence?
Future Work Centre study
- A study carried out by the Future Work Centre found that there was a ‘strong relationship’ between use of the ‘push’ feature that automatically updates emails on devices as soon as they arrive and perceived email pressure: ‘People feel compelled to check emails as they arrive, even if they know they aren’t required to do so.’.
Poor strategies are quick fixes
- The study identified that implemented strategies, which didn’t actually address the core issues behind how email left colleagues feeling, generated quick fixes but were not sustainable within a matter of months.
No remedy for stress levels
- More significantly, ‘email-free time’ did not provide a remedy to the stressor levels.
- In the most toxic of schools with a high email count (a recent Twitter poll showed that emails in some schools were in excess of 40 a day), email-free time would just be putting off all the fleeting ideas or messages sat drafted in outboxes.
1Conversation & Connection
1.2WhatsApp
1.3Praise & Thank-Yous
2Being Human: Effective Relationships in Schools
2.1Dealing with Colleagues, Roles & Resolution
2.2Creating Professional Safety Nets
2.3Educational Leaders
2.4Connections in the Classroom: Student Systems
Jump to other topics
1Conversation & Connection
1.2WhatsApp
1.3Praise & Thank-Yous
2Being Human: Effective Relationships in Schools
2.1Dealing with Colleagues, Roles & Resolution
2.2Creating Professional Safety Nets
2.3Educational Leaders
2.4Connections in the Classroom: Student Systems
Practice questions on Physiological Impact of Email
Can you answer these? Complete these activities in the Seneca app to progress towards your certificate.
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