How I Stopped Checking Email in the Morning

Let’s be real. You have a serious problem.

Most people wake up and immediately grab their phones. They check email. They look at Slack. So what’s the problem with that? They start their day reacting to other people.

That’s not what successful people do.

Image generated by author.

I used to do this. I would open my inbox. A newsletter about a cool new app would catch my eye. I would click the link. I would read the marketing copy. I would open an email about a topic I’m interested in. Or see that I have notifications on a Facebook post. Thirty minutes later, I am reading forums about productivity tools instead of doing actual work.

Other times it would be reacting to a support ticket. Responding to a customer about something non-urgent. Often it would be an issue, like I have to update an API key or my password.

It was an easy dopamine hit. It felt like work. It was not work.

I realized I had a serious attention problem. We all do.

The Persuasive Design Trap

You are fighting against billionaires who want your attention.

Stanford teaches a concept called **Persuasive Design*. Tech companies study human psychology in labs. They build apps specifically to steal your focus. Nir Eyal wrote a book about this called [Hooked](https://amzn.to/46AHBSz)*. He explains exactly how these specific 4-triggers manipulate your brain.

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Here’s the truth:

App developers treat your phone like a slot machine. You pull down on your screen to refresh your email. You wait for a second. You get a little reward. Notifications pop up. Red badges appear. Your brain craves the reward. You click.

Every time you check your inbox, you feed that craving. You lose your focus. You let someone else dictate your schedule.

Now, more than ever, you have to protect your attention. You must focus on high-value tasks that make real money — that move your businesss forward. Replying to an email from your accountant is not a high-value task at 7 AM. Creating content, like writing a Medium article, is a high-value task.

I decided to change my approach. Now I practice selective attention.

I choose to be intentional. I stopped being reactionary.

By the way, if you have kids, introduce them to this topic with this book. My 10-year old son loved it. (By the way, check out the review rating on those books.)

My Inbox Lockdown System

InboxWhenReady screenshot by author.

I found a Chrome extension called Inbox When Ready.

It works perfectly. It hides your inbox by default.

I set up a strict schedule. I allow my email to load between 10 AM and 9 PM. When I wake up, I literally can’t see my new emails. I can’t start my day in my email inbox. All I see when I load Gmail is like inbox zero. The extension sets a hard limit.

This tool is fantastic for three specific reasons:

• It tracks my time. The extension logs exactly how many minutes I spend looking at my inbox. That number dropped massively over time.
• It permits deep work. Certain critical messages still appear. Login codes and password resets bypass the block. No waiting. You can also search your archives. If you need a specific document from a client, you just type their name in the search bar. The email appears. You get what you need. You avoid the mass of unread junk.
• It creates a habit. You get used to not checking email when you have a momentary fleeting thought.

You stay focused on the task. You ignore the noise.

Kill the Doomscroll

I also added Scrolly to my routine.

Screenshot from Scrolly Website

Software is quite literally designed to keep you scrolling forever. That is the intended outcome from the makers of these apps. Your thumb moves on autopilot. You lose an hour to Reels or TikTok before you know what happend. Scrolly breaks that loop. It is a fun tool that forces you to be intentional with your device.

It stops the mindless movement. It keeps you off the infinite feed.

If you want to grab one, use the coupon code brave for 10% off. It is a small price to pay to get your brain back.

You clock in and clock out when you want to lock distracting apps on your phone. Simple. Fun. Cute.

The Arbitrary Focus Trick

Blocking email and apps is a good start. But I added another level to the system.

I started using a Pomodoro timer.

I use Flow for Mac. But you can use any Pomodor timer you want.

The timer creates an arbitrary boundary around my time. I pick a single task. I click start. The clock counts down from 25 minutes.

Watching that clock tick down changes your brain. It makes it obvious that you should not check Reddit. Sometimes I get the urge to open Facebook or whatever. Then I look at the timer. It says I have 14 minutes left. I realize it is stupid to break my focus for a unrewarding social media dopamine hit. The timer says you are working. So you work.

I also use this tool to fix my posture. I use the five-minute break to get up from my sitting position. I move around a bit. I stretch my legs. Then I sit back down and start another timer.

The Two-Hour Fasting Sprint

I combine these tools with a very strict morning routine.

I do not eat breakfast. I fast. I drink multiple cups of black coffee. I sit down and get to work. Breakfast is the least important meal of the day.

This early window is my most valuable, most productive time. I block out two solid hours. I tackle the hardest thing on my list.

Maybe I write an article. Maybe I build out a new side project. I just sit there and do the work.

Life gets crazy fast. Kids wake up. Meetings run long. The afternoon goes completely haywire. I do not care. I already accomplished my most important task before 10 AM. I won the day.

These habits changed everything. I get more done in two hours than most people get done in eight hours. My earnings rose sharply this year because I stopped wasting time.

Do I care about breaking news? Not really. A celebrity death will still be a celebrity death at 4 PM. A new software launch can wait.

I save all that noise for my low-focus hours. I check socials later. That’s not important right now. I read the news when the kids are running around the house. I protect my mornings for deep focus.

You should too. Your future depends on it.

What are your tips for staying focused when everything can be a distraction?

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