How about an email embargo?

I watched a painter the other day standing on a tall ladder — paintbrush in one hand, iPhone in the other, probably checking his emails while putting on another fresh coat.

{mosads}Let’s admit it: We are all sick of our damn emails, to paraphrase Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). We get too many emails, send too many emails and waste too much time vigorously pressing “delete” to remove the unwanted emails. We are held hostage to a bunch of letters, numbers and characters with an occasional happy face at the end of the sentence.

Emailing has become a global epidemic: a modern-day version of pollution. According to The Radicati Group, a technology market research firm, the number of worldwide email users, including both business and consumer users, will grow from over 2.6 billion in 2016 to over 3 billion by 2020. The number of emails sent and received will total over 215 billion per day in 2016.

We are inundated with emails — sick with clicks. We are being tracked and hacked. Half the time, the stuff we get is bogus. How can we be producing anything if we are deleting emails all day long? 

It’s time for an e-embargo; an e-free zone during the day where no e-mails are permitted. Sort of like the message you get when you call your doctor between noon and 2 p.m.: The office is temporarily closed for lunch. No human being will respond to you. If it’s an emergency, call 911. The same could be done for emails; there could be a hotline if you just can’t wait for a response. Two hours of focused, uninterrupted time where nobody tries to sell you anti-virus software to fix your not-broken computer.

Think of the benefits of an e-free zone. We might reduce instant gratification. Patience would become a renewed skill. Blood pressure would drop around the world. Like carbon emissions, we reduce online clutter. Curb congestion, reduce traffic. The time lost to email would be regained for things like taking a walk, or, Heaven forbid, reading a book. The embargo would create borders for safety and sanity.

None of this is to suggest, by the way, that the internet is bad or that technology is not a net plus. We can’t stop the march of technology and in fields like medicine, finance and global development, we want everyone wired. Entrepreneurship relies on emailing, social media, information growth and e-markets. Data and information can empower people. E-gaps must be closed.

But not every second of the day.

We are seriously overloaded and constantly keyed up. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have our keyboards “frozen” for a few hours. After all, summers are supposed to be slow and relaxing. A good time to paint the house!

Sonenshine is a frequent contributor to The Hill. She consults on public affairs and media strategy.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.