MINDFUL EMAIL

There are plenty of mental health tools, mindsets and coping strategies that make a lot of sense in theory. Sometimes we don't spend enough time talking about how to actually apply them to daily life. Mindfulness has become trendy. It has some value in and of itself for stress reduction, but the real benefit is when we can apply it to daily life. This week, I wanted to share a technique I came up with back in 2021. I call it "Mindful Email."

I start by taking a deep breath and trying to settle down for a second to notice how I'm feeling. Once I feel like I have a sense of that, I crack an email open. I read through it and try to pay attention to how I react internally. How did the preview make me feel? Subject line? Did this make me feel good? Bad? Why? I dissect the reaction that I have whether good, bad or neutral. Then I go back to the top with another deep breath, notice how I'm feeling and repeat. I started to really like this for a couple reasons.

One is that it helps you lock into the moment. I've started to believe that one of the biggest contributors to stress in my life is being mentally scattered. When I can focus on one thing at a time, I notice my stress goes down. Sometimes looking at a massive inbox can be daunting, and you're already thinking about the task when you haven't finished the current one. When you force yourself to slow down like this, you can start to get into a rhythm and reduce stress.

Another reason is that helps you understand your internal state. Ever have someone ask you to do a very reasonable request at work, and it causes a big, oversized internal reaction? This is a clear signal of being stressed and being overwhelmed. If you are able to take a step back and notice that it's happening, you're able to both choose a more appropriate reaction and make the note that your stress levels are getting high. Half the battle of controlling emotions is being able to take that step back. If you complete the exercise and notice a lot of oversized reactions, you know you may need to apply some stress coping strategies and speak, act and write with intentionality as you go throughout the next meetings and tasks, knowing you're a bit on edge.

Knowledge and awareness of your internal states is a strength, and this technique is both a productive way to spend work time and a good practice to make you better at noticing internal states in the future.

Do you have any questions on this article? Do you have any topics you'd like to see covered in the future? Email me at jack@leaveitcinders.com and let me know!

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