E-mail addicts use 12-step program

Earlier this week I commented on a "discrimination" case in which a fired IBM employee claimed he was an Internet addict. Questions remain about the validity of such an addiction, but nevertheless, Reuters reports today that there is now a 12-step program for those addicted to e-mail.

Real or not, employees' obsession with their electronic messages is feared to be costing businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity. It's estimated that the interruption from receiving and reading a new e-mail disrupts productive work for an average of 4 minutes.

The program, developed by executive coach Martha Egan, includes steps like: "admit that email is managing you. Let go of your need to check e-mail every 10 minutes," and "deal immediately with any e-mail that can be handled in two minutes or less but create a file for mails that will take longer."

I'll admit, some of the symptoms Egan describes sound a little familiar, but does that make me an addict? Is the first step to recovery admitting that I have a problem? What about you? Do you need a 12-step program to break free from your inbox?