I stopped checking my email first thing in the morning for a month, and it did wonders for my productivity and stress level

Every time I would check my inbox, I pivoted from my game plan for the hour and got stuck answering emails and requests from other people instead. Hours later, I'd realize that I didn't accomplish more than 75% of what I had planned for the day. Going a day or two without checking my inbox let me focus on the tasks on my calendar and stick to deadlines.

It was easier for me because I am self-employed, so I didn't have the pressure of a boss or coworker waiting to hear from me via email for something urgent. But I do have clients, and when they need me badly enough, they will call and leave a voicemail. When that happened, I could decide whether to call back or wait until I opened my inbox to respond. Most of the time, their 'urgent' request could wait.

For the first time in a very long time, my productivity increased so much that I found myself with more free time. I actually found myself breaking for lunch — phone-free.

By the end of the month, I had made every deadline and even finished projects (like fixing my website and editing a video) that I had put off for months because I didn't have the time.

I ended up sticking to an every-other-day email frequency for the month of February that made me feel less stressed and more in control.

Will I continue this? Yes. I may ease up on my rules and check my email once or twice daily, but it's much better than the dozens of times every day that I used to do.

Now that I wasn't spending a chunk of my morning in bed checking emails, I could finally build a morning routine. I decided to take the 7 a.m. hour and make the most of it by using the time to meditate, stretch, and eat a solid breakfast, so that I'd feel good to start the day.

I felt less stressed now that my first thoughts of the day didn't revolve around the drama of what was inside of my inbox. I noticed that my days went by faster and my mood was more pleasant. I found myself starting the day with the feeling you get after a good workout, full of dopamine and energy.

In full disclosure, at first this method made me slightly more anxious and stressed. Without looking at my email daily, I was convinced I was missing big things. I didn't sleep for a few nights, feeling panic over missed opportunities and people getting mad for not replying.

But that wasn't the reality. What happened was that when I did check my email, rather than read what people sent me and forget to respond or put off responding, I formed more intentional responses and replied promptly. This helped me clear my inbox consistently for the first time in years, and made me feel like I reclaimed and owned my day.