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Hey, friends. Today's topic is super personal. I... Oh. Sorry about that. Anyway, so this episode is... So you wa-... Leave me alone. Notifications at work have gotten so out of control. Like, after a while, it is extremely overwhelming. I'm talking email. I'm talking Slack, DMs. Whichever way, you are pingable. So message overload is nothing new, but it's only gotten worse with the rise of virtual work that relies on this type of communication. So for me, you either respond to everything and feel destroyed at the end of the day, or you reply to some, but feel super guilty about the rest. Shame. So I found some things that have helped me, which I'll share in this video, but I still have questions. How do you avoid getting burned out by work messages? What are things I can do to set boundaries? And ultimately, how do I create a healthier relationship with my inbox? If you're looking for tips on how to manage messages at work without feeling bedraggled every day, we're gonna go through some practical techniques you can do to set healthy expectations and boundaries.
We get notifications and pings and, um, you know, something is unread. It starts to drive us crazy.
Centerfield turkey.
This, the notion of FOMO and, you know, just everything that was happening, I think I was maybe experiencing it before many people and felt the need to, to write about it and, and I suppose to serve as a bit of a cautionary tale.
That's Daniel Sieberg. He's the Director of Innovation Marketing at Moody's Corporation, co-founder of Good Trust, and has deep roots in tech and science journalism. He's also the author of The Digital Diet, which was published in 2011, but even back then dealt with tech addiction and message overload.
At the time, Christine, I think it was driven by a, uh, almost an intervention that was happening around me. People were concerned about the way that I was, I would say, mismanaging my relationship with technology. And so I started by writing a blog. It's definitely a self-help, uh, experience.
Say you get a message from work. The urge kicks in to respond immediately. Like, the clock is ticking. You don't wanna leave them hanging. But how much of that urgency is just in your head? Daniel recommends
Episode notes
Beep! Bzzzt. That incessant knockbrush! Work message notifications run nonstop all day, every day, and there doesn’t seem to be signs of stopping. It’s exhausting.
In today’s global, remote, WiFi-powered workspaces, the majority of async communication is conducted through email, direct message, or system notifications. Responding to this bottomless stream of requests can be time-consuming, not to mention stressful and mentally taxing. I needed some advice. How do I avoid getting burned out by work messages? What are some things I can do to set boundaries? And how do I create a healthier relationship with my inbox?
I sought answers from Daniel Sieberg—Director of Innovation Marketing at Moody's Corporation, Co-Founder of Good Trust, and author of The Digital Diet. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by work notifications, Daniel suggests setting communication boundaries with your team clearly and early, reframing the immediate urge to respond, and digging into your notification features and settings to better manage incoming pings. I also include some of my favorite tips and techniques for tackling work messages—let me know what’s worked for you!
This video was originally published on HBR's Ascend YouTube Channel in September 2022.
00:00 Has this ever happened to you?
01:24 Meet Daniel Sieberg
02:25 Rethink urgency
03:17 Pause those pings
04:05 Set realistic boundaries