Imagine you’re in a nondescript room, sitting in a circle with a bunch of strangers, waiting for a meeting to begin.Finally, it is time start and one of the strangers hesitantly confesses: “My name is Fred, and I’m addicted to…email.”
Does this strike you as humorous or do you see a bit of yourself in this fictitious scenario? Well, the truth may surprise you. An AOL survey revealed that 46 percent of the people in the United States admit to being addicted to email.
According to the survey:
- 62% of respondents check work email on weekends
- 19% choose vacation spots that has email access
- 59% check their email from the bathroom
- 55% have upgraded their mobile phone just to receive email
Okay, I admit that there are times when I have an irrational urge to check email and occasionally experience a bit of panic when I’m disconnected for too long. Yes, I am part of the 62 percent who check business email on the weekends.
But the other three items are definitely not me. Vacation is a time to separate myself from email, same with the bathroom (which is were I read my magazines—doesn’t everybody?), and my cell phone is for talking and texting but no email.
So, yes, I use email frequently, I depend on it, and couldn’t run my business without it. But addicted to it? No, just a positive proclivity, with occasional urges to partake, but I’m certainly not addicted to email.
Other people may be addicted to email, but not me—I can control it!
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Connections Magazine, covering the call center industry.
Read his latest book, Call Center Connections.
