One of my more compulsive behaviors is an almost obsessive need to check and respond to email.

Somehow, I think something important is going to come over the internet, something I have to know and reply to right away. So I'll check my mail when I get up, once I get to work, constantly throughout the day at work, even for my home address, and when I get home until I go to bed, including my work address.

I'm not sure what I'm expecting.

Some map to pirate treasure?

I get probably 1 email that needs my attention per day, so checking every 5 minutes is a bit excessive. Yet, still I do it.

The other related part to the compulsive behavior is to respond to emails, even if they probably don't need a response, and expect a reply. I think I must just want the contact, since I'll inevitably try to drag out an email conversation by replying with a comment on the comment on the comment of the original mail, nearly as long as I can.

Actually just reading an email to me and not responding is a behavior I have to practice and make a conscious choice to do. Not everything sent to me, silly pictures, humor websites, news articles and the like, need a reply. Sometimes they're just meant to be read and discarded. They're not the icebreaker to a conversation, and I forget that.

It's worse when I want attention. But I need to learn some patience and discipline about it.