E-Mail and Its Pejorative Influence on Inner Peace

Why is it that many of us feel so exhausted from email overload? I’m certain the theory I’m about to expound will have little impact on the betterment of mankind, but perhaps it will spur additional thought into how to address this growing anathema.

I receive about 150 email messages per day to my various email accounts, and of course, if I don’t “process” all of those within one day, the backlog grows somewhat linearly and quickly to well over a thousand messages (not to mention the times when I am not in work: travel, client visits, seminars, etc. and the growth is more exponential). But, I don’t believe it is the mere backlog that leads to such antipathy. I contend it is the content.

Very few emails I receive say something like, “Hey Anthony, I just wanted to send you a note to let you know how well things are going. Thanks, and keep up the good work.” As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I’ve received such a note. Rather, most emails raise issues that need to be elevated, actions that have yet to be completed, frustrations that others are compelled to vent, and of course, bizarre sexual enhancement products that must be purchased or hot stock tips that mustn’t be missed. As a result, one develops a somewhat Pavlovian response of something like: “Read mail, feel like crap. Repeat 150 times per day.”

No child ever complained about too many holiday or birthday presents. The quantity is only an issue when the content is negative. And, in the case of email, it seems that this form of communication has evolved (devolved?) into more insensitive mechanisms for passing around the buck. So a backlog of messages that have yet to be read represent a potentially large pile of something in which you don’t want to step but yet can’t ignore.