Latest / The Burnout Podcast with Fexingo: Workplace Exhaustion, Recovery, and Sustainable Careers / How Email Batching Reduces Decision Fatigue and Burnout
Transcript
- Lucas: So I have a confession to make: for the last two weeks, I've been checking email only three times a day. Ten AM, one PM, and four PM. No push notifications, no badge count, no reactive checking. Luna: Wait — three times? That's it? What about urgent client emails or last-minute meeting changes? Lucas: I had the same fear. But I set up an auto-responder that said if something is truly urgent, call or text me. And you know what happened? In two weeks, I got exactly one call and two texts. Everything else could wait a few hours. Luna: Okay, but why three times? Why not twice or four times? Lucas: Good question. The cadence came from a paper on 'attention residue' — the idea that after you switch tasks, part of your brain is still processing the previous task. The researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that after an email interruption, it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully refocus on the original task. Luna: Twenty-three minutes per interruption? That's brutal. Lucas: Right. And if you're checking email, say, ten times a day — which is pretty normal for most knowledge workers — that's nearly four hours of lost focus time. Not even counting the time spent reading and replying to the emails themselves. Luna: So batching reduces the number of interruptions, but what about the decision fatigue of processing all those emails at once? Lucas: That's the interesting part. By batching, I compressed my decision-making about email into three distinct windows. Each time, I processed everything in one go — delete, delegate, defer, do. The total number of decisions per day stayed about the same, but the cognitive load felt lighter because I wasn't constantly switching gears. Luna: I've read that the average office worker makes over 200 decisions per day just about email — whether to open, reply, flag, archive, or delete. That's part of decision fatigue. Lucas: Exactly. And decision fatigue is a known driver of burnout. When your brain is exhausted from making hundreds of micro-decisions, your willpower drains, your judgment suffers, and you're more likely to feel overwhelmed. By batching, I cut my daily email-related decisions from about 200 to maybe 60 or 70, all concentrated in three blocks. Luna: That's a reduction of over 60 percent. But did you ever miss something important because you weren't checking? Lucas: Not once. And here's the thing — most people overestimate the urgency of incoming messages. A study by the University of British Columbia found that 90 percent of emails don't require a response within six hours. We've just been conditioned to respond immediately because of the notification culture. Luna: I've noticed that when I check email first thing in the morning, it sets a reactive tone for the whole day. I end up responding to other people's priorities instead of my own. Lucas: That's exactly why I moved my first batch to 10 AM. I spend the first hour of the day on my most important work — writing, planning, deep thinking. By the time I open email, I've already made progress on my own goals. Luna: What about the social pressure? Colleagues expect quick replies. Did anyone get annoyed? Lucas: A couple of people asked, but once I explained that I'm batching to reduce burnout and improve focus, most were understanding. Some even said they wanted to try it. Luna: It's interesting you mention burnout — because the constant ping of email can actually trigger a low-grade stress response. Each notification spikes cortisol, even if it's just a newsletter. Lucas: Yeah, the body doesn't distinguish between a urgent client issue and a promotional email. That fight or flight activation, repeated dozens of times a day, is exhausting over time. Batching lets you control when you engage, instead of being at the mercy of incoming messages. Luna: So what's the practical advice for someone who wants to try this? Where should they start? Lucas: Start small. Pick two time slots — say, 11 AM and 4 PM. Turn off all notifications. Set an auto-responder if you're worried. Try it for one week. The first two days feel uncomfortable, but by day three, you'll feel a sense of relief. Luna: That's actually a really useful framework. If this episode helps you think about your own email habits in a new way, here's the thing — the reason we can keep doing these deep dives without ads is listener support. If you found today valuable, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It genuinely helps us keep the show ad-free and focused on practical insights. Lucas: Yeah, and we mean that — every little bit goes straight into keeping this sustainable. No pressure, just if it's useful to you. Luna: So back to the experiment — did you notice any change in your overall energy or stress levels by the end of the two weeks? Lucas: Absolutely. I felt less scattered, more in control. I also slept better, because I stopped checking email in the evening. That alone cut my pre-sleep anxiety significantly. Luna: I've heard that checking email late at night activates the prefrontal cortex and makes it harder to fall asleep. Another reason to batch. Lucas: Right. And beyond the sleep benefits, I reclaimed about 45 minutes of focused work time per day. That adds up to over three hours a week — time I used for deep work, not shallow email processing. Luna: So the takeaway is: email batching isn't just a productivity hack, it's a burnout prevention strategy. It reduces decision fatigue, lowers cortisol spikes, and protects your focus. Lucas: Exactly. And it's one of those rare changes that costs nothing, requires no tools, and delivers immediate benefits. The only barrier is the fear of missing out, which is mostly in our heads. Luna: I think I'm going to try it myself. Maybe start with two batches and see how it feels. I'll report back. Lucas: I'd love to hear how it goes. And if any listeners try it, let us know — we'd love to feature your experience in a future episode.