How often do you check email?
I was always sympathetic to those who say “rarely” or “only once a day,” but found that advice to be impractical for me. I also don’t like the practice of checking email every five minutes. (Don’t get me started on text messages.)
I like the suggestion in Michael Hyatt’s book, Free to Focus. He suggests checking email as part of your workday start up and shut down rituals. For me, that means 30 minutes in the morning and 30 – 45 minutes at the end of the workday.
If I need to send something out in the middle of the day, that’s fine, but I’m not working through my inbox then.