Exhausted by Email? A Practical Guide for Private Practice Clinicians

If your inbox feels like a constant background stressor, you’re not imagining it — and you’re definitely not alone.

Many private practice clinicians and healthcare providers feel pressure to respond quickly, stay on top of every message, and be constantly reachable. Over time, email can start to feel urgent, even when it isn’t. That pressure adds up, quietly draining focus, energy, and nervous system capacity.

Email isn’t inherently the problem. Unbounded access and unclear expectations are.

Here are six ways I approach email so it supports my work, instead of running it.

1. Give Email a Schedule

Email does not get unlimited access to my day.

I personally checkmy email once — maybe twice — during the workday, and that’s it. And I only do it when I actually have the time, energy, and capacity to respond. Checking email when you don’t have the capacity to reply just creates mental residue. You’re now holding other people’s requests without being able to act on them. And then there’s the guilt and shame when google gently nudges us “are you going to respond?”

Email works best when it lives inside a container.

2. I Turned Off Push Notifications

Because my nervous system is not a slot machine.

Push notifications train your brain to anticipate urgency. Each alert pulls attention away from what you’re doing and creates a subtle stress response. So, I’ve turned off all email notifications.

Email is not for urgent or emergent situations. If something truly requires immediate attention, there should be a different, clearly defined channel for that (phone call, urgent care or emergency medicine).

Removing notifications protects focus, and your nervous system.

3. I Use Templates and Drafts (Almost Nothing Starts From Scratch)

Most emails we send are variations of the same messages: scheduling, late cancellations, follow-ups, clarifications

Writing these from scratch every time is unnecessary cognitive labour. I keep templates and drafts for emails I send often and adapt them as needed. This saves time, reduces decision fatigue, and makes responding feel far less draining. One solid template can save hours over the course of a month!

4. I Share My Boundaries Clearly in My Email Signature

I don’t rely on people to guess my response time. My email signature makes it clear that I review emails during set times and respond within a defined window- typically 24–48 business hours.

Something as simple as:

In order to support focused, thoughtful work, I review emails once daily Monday to Friday between 9-4pm. Expect a response within 24–48 business hours.

Clear expectations reduce stress on both sides and prevent email from quietly becoming on-call work (not our pay grade haha)

5. If I Delete an Email Without Opening It, I Unsubscribe

A full inbox creates mental noise, even if you’re not actively reading every message. If I delete an email without opening it, I take that as a cue to unsubscribe. A quieter inbox leads to a quieter mind. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about reducing unnecessary input so your attention is reserved for what actually matters. More is often just more.

6. I Don’t Have Easy Access to Email on My Phone

I don’t need to check email at the grocery store. Or while I’m at the gym. Or in between sessions. My work email stays at work.

Removing easy access to email on my phone helps reinforce that boundary and reduces habitual checking. Personal time doesn’t get quietly taken over by work.

This could also look like limiting access on your computer- logging out completely or shutting down your laptop at the end of each day!

Remember, as a culture, and especially in healthcare, we’ve been conditioned to equate fast responses with good care. But speed is not the same as thoughtfulness, and urgency is not the same as importance.

A 24–48 hour response time during the workweek is reasonable. Email is not emergency care. And you’re allowed to structure communication in a way that supports your energy, focus, and longevity.

Email should serve your work, not run your life.