Jan 23 is "Email Day." The 23rd of each month is "Fumi no Hi" (Letter Day) since ~1975, promoting "the joy of sending and receiving letters." A pun added "ii (E) fumi no hi"—Email Day on Jan 23. Over 200 million emails daily in Japan, they say—but Facebook, Twitter, LINE spread fast and may replace email. Still, email remains essential for now.
About email—have you heard of "Email Apnea"?
It's when you unknowingly hold your breath at the PC. Sleep apnea became known in recent years—breathing stops while asleep; similarly, you may stop breathing while focused on screen work. Not email-only—blogging, SNS comments, any concentrated typing. Writing this Takebashi Guide, I often fall into it (lol)
Not scientific, but one claim says 80% experience it. Most are healthy. Email Apnea isn't illness—no doctor's pills.
Coined 2008 in Huffington Post by Linda Stone—ex-Apple exec studying tech and physiology. She noticed her own breath stopping at the screen.
Holding breath isn't good for the body. Stone offers two hypotheses.
Many slump oddly at the PC.
"Bad posture—hunched, rounded back, shoulders in—is anatomically hard for breathing," Stone says. True—you feel it without science. Hunch and tuck your neck—clearly cramped.
Another: stress from email/PC work disrupts breathing. UC Irvine's Gloria Mark and Stephen Voida published research linking email and stress—e.g., heart-rate variability. When people can't (or needn't) read email, HRV drops.
Email Apnea isn't disease. Fix is simple: sit straight, mind your breath. Stand up from the PC sometimes—that alone eases symptoms.
Now that you've finished this blog—stand up and take a deep breath.