Alarming Effect E-Mail Has on Your Brain

We have no idea what you're supposed to do about this, but a British
study by TNS Research commissioned by Hewlett Packard concludes that
workers who are distracted by frequent phone calls, e-mails, and text
messages actually suffer a greater loss of IQ than someone who smokes
marijuana, report The Guardian and UK's Press Association.
The problem isn't the e-mail itself. The problem is the constant
interruptions in your work day that reduce productivity and leave you
feeling tired, lethargic, and unable to focus.
In 80 clinical trials, the IQ of 1,100 British workers was monitored
throughout the day by Dr. Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College
in London. What he found is that when people tried to juggle e-mail,
phone calls, and text messages along with their work, their IQs dropped
by a full 10 points. That's the equivalent of missing an entire night's
sleep and more than the four-point decline seen after someone smokes
pot.
"This is a very real and widespread phenomenon," Wilson told The
Guardian. "We have found that this obsession with looking at messages,
if unchecked, will damage a worker's performance by reducing their
mental sharpness. Companies should encourage a more balanced and
appropriate way of working."
The Guardian describes it like this: "E-mails in particular have an
addictive, drug-like grip." A big part of the problem is what Wilson
calls an almost complete lack of discipline in handing e-mail. Most of
us feel compelled to reply to each new message, and this leads to a
relentless change in our mental direction.
Alarming facts about how we use e-mail:
Fully two-thirds of workers check their e-mail when they aren't working,
including on vacation.
50 percent respond to an e-mail within an hour of receiving it.
20 percent will interrupt a business or social engagement to respond to
an e-mail.
90 percent said anyone who answers e-mail during face-to-face meetings
is rude, but 30 percent admitted it's also a sign of diligence and
efficiency.