Do you have EMAIL APNOEA?

If you feel buried by your inbox, it might be time to stop and take a breath

- AMBER BRAMBLE

Let’s pretend you’re answering an email at work. You’ve read your response twice, used the right combo of professional yet friendly language and checked who’s on the CC list.

So, have you left anything important out? Spelling? Grammar? Well, if you’re like 80 per cent of office workers, the answer is that you’ve forgotten to breathe.

“Email apnoea, also known as screen apnoea, is a phenomenon where individuals unconsciously hold their breath or breathe shallowly while reading or responding to emails or engaging with digital screens,” explains Nancy Sokarno, a psychologist from We Lysn.

Unlike sleep apnoea (which is caused by airway obstruction), email apnoea is caused by good old-fashioned stress.

“Linda Stone, a former executive at Microsoft, coined the term in 2008 after observing this behaviour in herself and others,” Sokarno explains.

UNDER PRESSURE 

While the vast majority of emails are benign, Sokarno says the real tension comes from the sheer volume of messages we receive, coupled with a sense of pressure to respond swiftly.

In a world where some emails are analysed in minute detail, the act of composing messages can also be stress-inducing.

“Email stress can also stem from the fact that emails can sometimes lack clarity, leading to misunderstandings or uncertainty about what is expected,” Sokarno says. “People may stress over deciphering the sender’s intent or curating the appropriate response.”

TAKE A BREATH

Sokarno explains that at some point our cave-dwelling instincts tend to kick in.