The reason not to buy an iPhone this summer

A month ago this article would have been titled “Why I’m buying a new iPhone,” except I changed my mind.

The ability to check my email from almost anywhere in the United States, as well as surf the Internet, Google my heart away and check my calendar for available appointments seemed perfect for my busy life.

At the time it was a no-brainer. But then I picked up Tim Ferris’ book “The 4-hour work week,” where Ferris explains his email addiction and why it kept him from being as productive as possible.

Ferris’ suggests – no – demands that the reader refrain from checking email when getting out of bed in the morning, and even (gasp) suggests to only check email twice a day, before lunch and again at 4 p.m.

“Are you kidding?” I asked myself. I regularly check my email in the middle of the night during bathroom breaks.

I’m an editor at this newspaper and I own a wedding photography business. There is no way, I told myself, that I could refrain from checking my email constantly throughout the day. I would lose an interview with a source or possibly lose a potential client.

It was too much to give up too soon — until I tried it.

I’m still in the intermediary phase of my email withdrawal (this includes the shivers and cold sweats while waking up at 3 a.m. after refreshing Gmail in my dreams) and I haven’t yet broken the habit, but I can say I’m actually getting more done in the morning and worrying about email less. This frees me from two problems I previously had.

1. It unleashes me from the Internet. I used to get antsy if I didn’t check my email at least hourly. This is gone and now I realize emailers can wait. Just ask yourself “If it takes a day to respond to this email, will I lose my job, or lose a client?” The answer is probably “no.”

2. It eliminates email conversations. This has happened to everyone. The scenario: you get an email and respond to it within five minutes. The emailer quickly responds back to your reply turning email into instant messaging. Try replying at least an hour after you receive the email. An email conversation becomes impossible.

If you simply cannot adapt this to your workstyle, then at minimum eat breakfast before turning your computer on. It seems like a small change but it gradually removes the urgency and in turn, stress, from your daily life.