Something to doWorkload & wellbeing
Check messages at set times
A micro habit for keeping your attention on one thing at a time
Why it’s worth your time
Each quick glance at your messages costs more than the seconds it takes, because part of your attention stays with what you saw. Handling messages at a few set times lets the rest of your day have all of you. Telling people how to reach you for anything urgent is what makes it safe to stop checking.
How to check email at set times
You’ll come away with two or three set times for messages, and a way for anything urgent to reach you in between.
We’ll turn this into a checklist you can tick off.
- Pick two or three times.
Late morning, after lunch, and near the end of the day is a common pattern. Choose what fits when people usually need you.
- Turn off the notifications.
Close email and chat between times, or at least silence the badges and pop-ups. The pull is much weaker when nothing is flashing.
- Tell people how to reach you if it's urgent.
A call, a text, or one specific channel. You only need to tell the few people who might ever need you fast.
To: the people who reach you mostA heads-up: from day, I'll be checking email and chat at set times, around your times, so I can do more focused work in between. You'll still hear back from me the same day.
If something needs me sooner, the fastest way to reach you will always get to me.
Swap the highlighted parts for your thing. Works on Slack, in email, or said out loud. - Deal with messages when you open them.
Reply, decide, file, or add it to your list. Opening something only to leave it for later is how the inbox follows you around.
- Leave yourself a note before you switch.
Before each message session, jot where you are in your work and what comes next. Coming back is quicker, and the work is less likely to trail you into the inbox.
MonTueWedThuFri9 am11 am1 pm3 pm5 min, yours5 pm0.3 hrs a month, for you4 hrs a year you didn’t have beforeSame slot so it stops being a decisionTip: Two lines is plenty. The point is to put the work down cleanly.
Good moments for this: every workdayduring a week with a big deadlinewhen your inbox starts setting your agenda
We’ll turn this into a checklist you can tick off.
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Sometimes it's real responsibility. Often it's relief from something hard, because the inbox is full of small, finishable things and the hard task isn't. If you reach for messages whenever the work gets tricky, that's useful to know.
What might make this harder
Agree on one route for urgent things, like a call or a direct message with a flag, so the rest of chat can wait.
Questions people ask
How often should I check email at work?
For many roles, two to four set times a day is plenty, with a clear way for urgent things to reach you in between. Roles built on fast response may need more.
What is attention residue?
A term from researcher Sophie Leroy for the part of your attention that stays on a previous task after you switch to a new one. It's one reason a quick look at your messages can cost more than it seems.
How do I stop checking email and Slack constantly?
Pick set times, turn off notifications between them, and tell people how to reach you for anything urgent. Knowing an emergency would find you makes it much easier to stop.
Why this works, and where it comes from
Most message checking isn't a decision. A notification appears, a task gets hard, a file takes a moment to load, and the inbox is right there. Each check feels like a few seconds, and on its own it is. What it costs comes afterward.
The organizational researcher Sophie Leroy named that cost attention residue: when you switch from one task to another, part of your attention stays behind with the first, especially if it was left unfinished. A glance at your inbox in the middle of hard work doesn't only cost the glance; you come back carrying whatever you saw. The work gets less of you, and it can take a while to notice.
That's also why the urgent route matters so much. Much of the pull to check is worry about missing something that really matters. Once the few people who might need you fast know exactly how to reach you, that worry has somewhere to go, and the inbox can become a place you visit a few times a day rather than one you never quite leave.
If your job's value is in how quickly you respond, support on shift, live operations, a sale in its closing week, then batching can cost more than it saves, and a clear, stated response window suits you better. On a day of mostly light coordination there's less to protect, so checks can be looser. The habit earns its keep on the days when the work needs your whole head.
Other simple things to consider
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Written by Truest, based on Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks (Sophie Leroy). Last updated October 2, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.