Lower stress with this one change

Clicking over to your inbox every, oh, five minutes—or less? We all do it, but new research from the University of British Columbia discovered that simply opting out of that quick-check cycle can shrink your stress levels.

“Our findings show that people felt less stressed when they checked their emails less often,” said Kostadin Kushlev in a release, the study’s lead author and a PhD candidate at UBC’s Department of Psychology.

Over the course of a week, a group of study subjects who were restricted to checking their email just three times per day were noticeably calmer and had significantly lower stress levels than the subjects who were told to check their email as often as they could.

As you probably already know, disconnecting at work isn’t always so easy. Many study participants found it challenging to stay off their email, even though doing so had major psychological benefits, according to Kushlev.

To keep yourself feeling bubbly at your desk rather than harried, Kushlev advises checking emails in chunks just a few times a day instead of responding to each note as it comes in. When you feel the temptation to log on, remember that steering clear for just a little longer will boost your overall well-being. Worth it!