People who read email changed screens twice as often and were in a steady “high alert” state, with more constant heart rates. Those removed from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates.

“We found that when you remove email from workers’ lives, they multitask less and experience less stress,” said UCI informatics professor Gloria Mark.

The key here is that frequent email checkers experience the most significant problems, with researchers suggesting that “controlling email login times, batching messages or other strategies might be helpful.” It’s an idea we’re familiar with but so few of us actually try and experience the benefits of.

Something I will be giving a try this week, will you join me in this?

Every Time Zone is a real handy site to bookmark! See how your local time compares to that of other cities around the world right now. Or any time, for that matter. Click on a bar to pull up more information about that time, zone, or city.

By Wendy MacNaughton.

1. Reduces stress hormones: When people laugh heartily and deeply, the physical exertion causes the body to release endorphins, one of the complex neuropeptide chemicals produced in the brain. Endorphins combat the excessive production of cortisol, a hormone your body releases when you experience physical, emotional, or mental stress. Consistent laughter effectively lowers the level of cortisol and other stress hormones in your blood, keeping your body in balance.
2. Strengthens the immune system: Studies show laughter not only reduces stress it also stimulates disease-fighting changes in the body, including the production of cancer-attacking white blood cells.
3. It promotes good mental health: Studies show that people who use humor to address stress are likely to feel less lonely and maintain a healthy level of self-esteem. More surprisingly, some studies have concluded that humor therapy is as effective as widely used antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of patients suffering from depression.
4. It burns calories: After spending an evening at a comedy club or watching a good episode of Saturday Night Live, you might feel as if you just worked out at the gym. That’s because the effects of laughter and exercise are very similar. A researcher at Vanderbilt University conducted a study measuring the amount of calories burned while laughing, which turned out to be 50 after 10 to 15 minutes of laughter. And just like physical exercise, laughter increases your heart rate and blood circulation.
5. Manages pain: Endorphins, in addition to making a person feel pleasant, help to manage pain. Laughter in the form of clown therapy is used in hospitals to help children cope with the pain of treatments like chemotherapy.
6. It manages anger: Laughing can reduce tension, eliminate a perceived threat, and open up lines of communication between people, all of which help to diffuse unhealthy levels of irrational anger.
7. It promotes and strengthens interpersonal relationships: Psychology Today reports that laughter has the capacity to restore and build couples’ relationships. Laughing not only brings large groups together, it creates and strengthens a connection between two people, showing they truly enjoy each other’s company.
8. It’s good for the soul: Western and Eastern religions both know the value of laughter. Consider this from Proverbs 17:22: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
9. It’s great for kids: Studies show that children laugh an average of 100 to 200 — some say 400 — times a day. Adults on the other hand average about 15 laughs a day!
10. It stimulates creativity: Studies including one at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, show that laughter improves alertness, memory, and creativity. One explanation for this is that humor, like creativity, connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, engaging the entire organ and creating a pleasant physical and emotional response.