A few months ago, I purchased a Blackberry. I didn't want one, and I didn't need one, but because I had a relative who worked for Verizon, and she was getting a pretty sweet deal on them (if I went in to purchase one), I figured 'eh, why not?' Now, cut to a few months later, and I am addicted to it.

My boyfriend hates my cell phone because I always forget to switch the settings, so it will constantly make a noise whenever I receive an email, message, Blackberry message or, of course, phone call. I am obsessed with email. I have actually had to shut down email accounts in the past because I discovered that I wasn't really using them as often as I thought I would be. That being said, what can be done about this obsession? I know that I'm not the only person out there with this problem! In fact, there are countless other people who are significantly worse off than I am. So, what can be done?

I never used to shut my phone off, but now I do. Once I reach a certain point at night, after I've gotten home from work or running errands, I make it a point to turn off my computer (or put it on sleep mode) and turn my phone all the way off. I figure that at best, I'm saving some energy (not to mention battery life); but also, I'm mentally giving myself a break from the monotony of working 24/7. There are some of us who are obsessed with email because receiving or sending an email makes us feel important- it makes us feel useful and needed in the world. However, it is also a time sucker. One way to help yourself stay organized with email is to properly set up your email account. Make sure that one of the first things you do is figure out your spam filters. Spam filters, you will eventually realize, will become your best friend. I'm not sure exactly how the weirdos out there know that you have an email address or what your email address is, but they figure it out one way or the other. Block them!

Another way to minimize the email distraction is to set yourself up for only having one or two email accounts versus four or five. Not only will this help you better keep track of email, but it will make it easier for you to check and respond to emails. Don't want to do that or can't? Many email providers nowadays have the option where you can integrate your emails form elsewhere into one email account. So, for instance, if you had email accounts with gmail, yahoo, msn and aol, you could integrate all of them into one email server like gmail. It makes it much easier. Additionally, creating folders within your email helps to save some time that you would otherwise have to spend sifting through a ton of stuff.