I was awakened at 6:40 a.m. by a colleague.

She texted.

Instant messaged.

And, texted again.

That passive-aggressive communication….

Ya know? It was too early for an actual phone call, so she resolved to disturb my slumber by “less-intrusive” means.

I was pissed [insert angry emoticon].

Everyone knows that I am not a morning person. Those last 30 minutes of sleep are obviously the most valuable. It clearly was an emergency. Let me rephrase…

It had better be an emergency.

Pissed and all, I woke up from my blissful restfulness (yes, I made it up) and called her.

Guess what?

There was indeed an emergency. I now wish there was some official accolade/blue ribbon/medal of honor that I could give her. Talk about a shining example of determination. Commitment. Excellence. Fortitude.

I digress…




As I laid in bed, unable to return to my state of unconsciousness…I had an aha moment. I began to recount the number of times that friends and family call in the wee hours of  morning.

I’d come to accept it as some odd, obscure, rights of passage.

On this morning, I reflected about the many times that my precious sleep had been disrupted.

How many times these loved had snatched it away like thieves in the night.

I realized….the problem is not them, it is me.

I can just… [insert dramatic theme music]

Cut the ringer off.

We all know that the first step to fixing a problem is admitting it. Here goes…

My name is Patrice.
I am an EMAILINSTANTMESSAGETEXT-A-HOLIC.

How many times do I jazz run at the sound of a new message alert, side swiping poor Piper (my maltipoo), mid run?

How often do I hyperventilate at the thought of miss that flashing, LED light?

*Oh little green light, how I love you…*

On this day, I am starting my own 12 step program.  A program to overcome this emailinstantmessagetext addiction. As a business owner, constantly checking emails, instant messages and texts at all times of day and night can hinder our productivity.

We are always in “response mode” answering any new messages hit our multitude of inboxes. Let’s stop the foolery now. How about scheduling time blocks for dealing with emailsintantmessagesandtexts? That simple (but darn difficult) step can do wonders to improve productivity.

Let’s do it.

Signing Off,

Ready for a Change

Calling all EmailInstantMessageText-a-Holics…share your trials and triumphs below.