Fortune has posted 10 ways to get a grip on your e-mail, outlining exactly why it’s so important for corporations to get a handle on time spent in email:
"Let’s suppose, for instance, that dealing with your e-mail sucks up 75
days a year, and one-third of that time is thrown away on useless tasks
like reading "reply to all" messages that don’t concern you or figuring
out how to answer long, convoluted questions. Using an average
knowledge-worker salary of $30 per hour, the authors point out that the
cost of 25 wasted days is about $6,000 a year per employee – or, from
the company point of view, $6 million per 1,000 knowledge workers.
Yikes."
Tips include sending less email, scheduling live conversations, and filing effectively. See the article for the complete list.
Posted by brad at 7:16 pm on May 22nd, 2007.
Categories: Uncategorized.
Thanks to Renee
Blodgett for pointing me to this article in New
York magazine on busy executives (from the likes of VH1 and ABC) who are
trying to cope with email. This quote made me look at the article a little
closer:
"Much as it facilitates the conduct of business, e-mail is threatening to
overrun people’s lives. It’s no longer uncommon for executives — even those at
middle levels — to receive 100 to 150 e-mails a day — a
veritable torrent that floods "24-7," to use the macho shorthand of e-business."
(Emphasis added).
100 – 150 messages? This article was published in the Summer of 1999. I’m
willing to bet that the executives quoted in this article now long for the days
when they only received 150 messages/day!
Anyway, the article is a good read and serves to
highlight just how long the management of email has been a problem in the
corporate world. If you suffer from some of the addiction issues described in
the article, try my easiest productivity tip: turn off your
mail notifications and set Outlook to only check for email every 30 minutes
or longer.
Posted by brad at 12:01 pm on May 21st, 2007.
Categories: Uncategorized.
