A long time ago I had to renegotiate my relationship with my e-mail. I felt like I was always behind. I felt compelled to check and see if something new had arrived. I was tied to my e-mail as a lifeline of communication. What I discovered was it was holding me back from effectively leading.

I checked my email constantly throughout the day, on my computer and on my phone. I was compelled to try and read email as quickly as they came into my inbox. I didn’t realize that I was prioritizing my e-mail as though it was more important than other things in my day including my staff and the priorities of my job.

I took a fresh start and changed how I handled e-mail. I declared e-mail bankruptcy and chose not to read all my past unread messages. I started clean by looking forward.

I developed a habit of processing my e-mail separate from doing the work each message required. I set a goal of processing my e-mail in thirty minutes where the result was creating calendar events, items on my to-do list, a quick email reply, or no action. As a result, after thirty minutes I had some new tasks and some time allocated to do work as required by the incoming messages. I was done with e-mail, not done with the work it created.

I established a basic way to prioritize the messages in my inbox. I got to a habit of looking for e-mails from my boss first. I then looked for e-mails from customers and any subject lines that indicated urgency. I no longer could trust the “high importance” setting on Outlook given how much that was misused. I asked my team to preface the subject line with something in all caps to catch my attention if they needed me.

I actively worked at ignoring my e-mail outside of the designed times. If I was sitting at my desk, I worked to avoid the habit of opening my email. In meetings, I avoided looking at new e-mail messages. At first I felt disconnected and uncomfortable not checking my e-mail every 15 minutes. It didn’t take long to realize it was freeing me to lead.

I came to realize that I could focus on in-person interactions with my team. I fully dedicated myself to doing what was on my priorities and avoided the trap of trying to multitask. I became more engaged in real interactions rather than scurrying away to check e-mail at every opportunity. I had more genuine interactions with people over real priorities rather than choose to spend time on e-mail.

You may be worried you’ll miss some fast moving issue. What I’ve learned is that important issues find you. You will be called or texted. I recall when a customer was having trouble logging in to our production site on a product I was responsible for, and there was a chance they would escalate to my boss. My team came to find my physically in the meeting I was in to be sure I knew what was happening.

Tell your team how you are processing e-mail. Tell them how they can reach you if they need you urgently. Be clear they can call or text if they must. Give them tips for how their e-mail will jump out at you. I asked my team to use a subject line like “RESPONSE NEEDED BY 1pm THURSDAY: Customer requires an answer.”

As a leader one of the most important habits is to spend your time where you make the biggest impact. Don’t let email steal your time away from your team and your priorities. Put email in its place.