Month: October 2015

“Your Brain on Email”: A Psychologist Reveals How Email Affects You

We’ve talked a little bit about the psychological impact of email here at Timyo before, but I wanted to recommend a great article at the Huffington Post by real psychologist Dr. Emma Seppälä, who is the Associate Director at the Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (which has got to be one of the coolest job titles ever). The whole article is well worth a read, but a few key takeaways: 1. Not just quantity, but variety counts. When it comes to stress, it isn’t just the quantity of stressors that reach us through our inbox,… Continue reading “Your Brain on Email”: A Psychologist Reveals How Email Affects You

PUBLISHED ON Posted on Author BY Chris Starrin Categories email, life, tips
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A Self Divided: Evaluating, Experiencing, and Email

I recently read a fantastic piece by Dr. Jim Harter at Harvard Business Review. Its title asks a simple question: “Should Employers Ban Email After Work Hours?” The whole article is a great read, one of the best I’ve seen on email and work productivity, but one thing in particular caught my interest: the author’s discussion of what he calls the “evaluating self” vs. the “experiencing self”. I think this is a great way to look at how we feel not only about email, but about work/life balance in general. Basically, when researchers at Gallup (where Harter is a Chief… Continue reading A Self Divided: Evaluating, Experiencing, and Email

PUBLISHED ON Posted on Author BY Chris Starrin Categories email
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telepressure

Under (Tele)Pressure

I recently read a great article at Harvard Business Review called “Fixing Our Unhealthy Obsession with Work Email”. The author, productivity expert Maura Thomas, does a great job of highlighting some of the ways that ASAP work culture and the misuse of email add unnecessary stress to our lives. In the article, one thing in particular caught my eye: the introduction of the term “telepressure”, which was new to me, here defined as “An urge to quickly respond to emails, texts, and voicemails — regardless of whatever else is happening or whether one is even ‘at work.’” Sound familiar? Ms.… Continue reading Under (Tele)Pressure

PUBLISHED ON Posted on Author BY Chris Starrin Categories email

Great Expectations: Why Letting People Know What You Want is the Nicest Thing You Can Do

Years ago, I read a book called The Paradox of Choice, in which the author, Barry Schwartz, describes the very modern dilemma of being paralyzed by choice (you can watch his TED talk on the subject here). Basically, he talks about how in the Western world we are constantly confronted with a nearly limitless array of options, for everything from blue jeans to laptops to flavors of jam at the supermarket. And rather than making our lives easier, having so many options often stresses us the hell out. 54 Flavors = 53 Losses Say I stop by the store to… Continue reading Great Expectations: Why Letting People Know What You Want is the Nicest Thing You Can Do

PUBLISHED ON Posted on Author BY Chris Starrin Categories email
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