Does work email cause anyone anxiety?

19 Comments

1. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 2:17PM UTC

   Oh yeah. Have to always fight that 'need to address immediately' urge and sometimes it's overwhelming. I've been trying to be better about finishing one task before moving on to the next way as a way to lower that impulse. One of the best things I did was turn off that popup that would come every time there was a new email.

2. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 2:26PM UTC

   For me it's judging and interpreting the email tone. I have some trauma because I used to get emails that were nasty from a former boss.

3. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 3:39PM UTC

   I 100% get this one! And this goes back to an experience I had almost 20 years ago. One email was particularly bad that my response was answering the questions and ending with an "I'm out."

4. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 2:34PM UTC

   Why? Do you not know how to draft a professional email?

5. AyianFebruary 21,2025 at 2:37PM UTC

   How deeply unhelpful and condescending you just were! Are you AWARE that you're on an ADVICE board?!?

6. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 2:44PM UTC

   I know how. It's the receiving.

7. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 3:06PM UTC

   What's wrong with you? Do you not know how an advice board works?

8. AyianFebruary 21,2025 at 2:38PM UTC

   Absolutely. There's no tone in emails and people get really bent out of shape if they decide to interpret you some kind of way. I've started using ChatGPT to draft emails with professional, but kind tones in an attempt to circumvent the issue.

9. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 2:44PM UTC

   Yes, getting a lot of email can cause anxiety. It's always a sense of hurry up and reply. My suggestion is to set your email view so that you can see the preview to the right, if you are using Outlook. It gives you the opportunity to preview it and see if it's urgent (based on the type of work you do). Remove the setting for pop ups as it's distracting. I took mine off. Especially if I'm on a Zoom or Teams call so it doesn't pop up. Look at your immediate manager/supervisor's first. Not every email means you have to reply immediately. I open it, then if it's urgent, I use the tag/custom feature to set a reminder that day to reply. It works great for me. Remember, one person's urgency is not always urgent or matches your urgency. If you are in an office get up and go talk to the person who emailed you to discuss an answer. Sometimes that can alleviate anxiety. If they email you again asking for an answer, acknowledge by saying yes, I have you on my list to reply. I get tons from different sources internal and external. And I get through it each day. My goal is to answer everyone I can, then if I can't, I get to it the next day (using the custom/tag feature). But waiting days to reply isn't good.

10. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 3:37PM UTC

    Not really. What does though are unannounced Teams calls.

11. AnonymousFebruary 21,2025 at 4:14PM UTC

    Everyone is different, so yes of course or no it doesn't. I think you would benefit to identifying the root cause as to why you feel anxious.

12. AnonymousFebruary 22,2025 at 12:00PM UTC

    I'm not normally an anxious person, so if I suddenly become anxious, I take a look at what is triggering me. If I'm always anxious at work then I need to change work.

13. AnonymousFebruary 22,2025 at 3:43PM UTC

    Yes they do. Before I was promoted to supervisor, I would not leave until my email was down to 5. Those were always things I was waiting for others to follow up with.

    now I am supervisor and I am ALWAYS waiting on someone to respond. I let 20 stay in. It still makes me crazy. I would rather get my email closed and in their own foldersZ

14. AnonymousFebruary 23,2025 at 2:27PM UTC

    Twenty is great. I have thousands in my inbox after using rules to sort many into other folders. I really need to go through and delete but I continue to procrastinate on it because I have better things to do with my time and I don't care that they're sitting there lol

15. AnonymousFebruary 24,2025 at 1:13AM UTC

    I would pass out at my desk if I saw a thousand in my inbox. My boss cracks up at me. I can’t help it. It is one of the few things I am OCD about.

    I now have to train “me” out of my team lead. She will work through lunch or stay late to get finished.

16. AnonymousFebruary 23,2025 at 2:23PM UTC

    Not anxious but so annoyed at the amount of emails that I get. I moved from one finance team to leading another. The old team was mostly inquiries from or to other accountants. In the current position I can receive emails from anyone in the entire company and from many external contacts. I feel like I spend a few hours a day just going through emails determining who they really need to contact. It usually isn't me or my team but they start with me first. And then it's the emails from external people that I communicate with often randomly going to junk mail. It's just ANNOYING!!!!!

17. AnonymousFebruary 23,2025 at 2:29PM UTC

    Tha would do it for me!

18. AnonymousFebruary 23,2025 at 6:11PM UTC

    Depends on the email. The ones that are clearly meant to send some malevolent message because they cc executives are annoying and can cause anxiety. I’ve learned over the years to not let email drive my day. I try and check it a limited number of times a day. This can cause issues with my boss because he expects me to pay very close attention to HIS emails as they are usually directions that need attention. So I scan for his stuff ..just to be clear his emails are clear and never a waste of time. For the ones that are trying to cause trouble I’ve learned to wait to respond especially when they’ve cc’d the world. Usually someone else will put their neck on the line because they are eager to get attention from the execs. I’ve learned over the years that execs hate this sort of thing and like me do not appreciate email wars or unnecessary emails. Our HR lady is especially guilty of this kind of crap. She’s incompetent and take zero responsibility for anything. If you question her on something her response is always well I did send you an email. Makes my skin crawl.

19. AnonymousFebruary 24,2025 at 6:12PM UTC

    I pretty much have disassociated myself with my job after almost 17 years. I show up and do my job. I've been bullied all that time by various people, trying to prove they have some kind of power over staff. It speaks volumes about higher education and the wannabes who vie for some kind of control. What these people don't understand, is that it's STAFF who make the wheels turn.