Invariably, the latest technology is marketed as the ultimate solution to frazzled nerves. But gadgets used without a plan will more likely result in scrambled brains than clearer thoughts.

A study by MIT's Sloan School of Management showed that while constant BlackBerry use kept co-workers in touch, it also fed into daily stress as employees compulsively checked for emails at night and on weekends.

The news isn't surprising, but the question of how to control your technology, without it controlling you, remains.

"People have to understand how to manage themselves," said Dan Markovitz, founder of efficiency-training firm TimeBack Management. "Getting a BlackBerry won't help you get more done if you don't block out time to do work, rather than check email all the time." In fact, Markovitz believes more gadgets often call for more discipline.

It's time to wrest back control. Below are some tips to help you make that happen.

Email
Clients feeling overwhelmed and shackled by email is the number-one problem Markovitz fields. "It's real two-edge sword," Markovitz said. "Everyone seems to feel that email is keeping them from getting their work done, even if they recognize it makes things faster and easier."

Compartmentalize: Only check your email occasionally. "I check my email 2 to 4 times a day – certainly not every five minutes, which is what people do when that little alert goes off," Markovitz said.

Not at a Glance: People will check their email, decide it's unimportant, and check the same emails again later. Instead, process the email when you see it, said Markovitz. When looking at email, one of four decisions can be made.

1. Delete it.
2. If the necessary response or action will only take a few minutes, take care of it.
3. Delegate it to someone better equipped to make a decision than yourself.
4. Will this take you a while to deal with? Designate a time to work on it, and if possible, drag the email into your calendar.

Train Your People: Let your crew know that you only check email a few times a day, and instruct them to call or page you in an emergency, Markovitz said. This also empowers your staff to carefully access the situation instead of just passing the buck to you.

It's Not an Emergency: People constantly check email because they're afraid of missing something important, according to Markovitz. But most urgent messages won't come through email. "If your basement is flooding, you're not going to send an email to the plumber," he said. "You're going to call them." In other words, expect a phone call when things go wrong. "Most things are not urgent, but to run your business for the 3 percent of things that are urgent means the other 97% you're working sub-optimally," he added.

Better Subject Heads: People spend a lot of time searching for emails because vague subject heads give no insight into the email's contents, said Jan Jasper, a productivity expert in the New York City area. Instruct your staff to use specific subject heads, Jasper advices. And if a client sends you an email with a general subject head, like 'Question,'add a couple words to the end of the subject when you reply, like 'Question – Client ABC's IRA.'

The same advice goes for naming files on your computer, especially if you share files with colleagues, Jan added.

PDAs
PDAs, like the BlackBerry or iPhone, exacerbate both the convenience of checking email on the road with the burden of being available during "free time." "I can't tell you in a global way if these tools are making things better or worse for people," said Jasper. "It depends on their job, and their culture where they work."

Jeff Tomaneng, a financial planner with U.S. Wealth Management in Braintree, Mass., sets rules for himself pertaining to when he checks email and voice messages on his smart phone. The schedule changes depending on the day, but he always returns calls right after lunch. If a voice-mail is pressing, he will call back during the day. Otherwise, he waits to return calls until 8 or 9 p.m.