Fri 2 Jan 2009
Post-Holiday Email Overload
Posted by Megan Dorn under Technology, Random thoughts
Many people take some time off over the holidays to leisurely enjoy the season with family and friends. It can be nice getting away and unplugging yourself from a busy work life. What isn’t so nice is plugging back in and finding 3,000 unread emails in your inbox.
That’s the number that many technology experts are throwing out there for heavy email users. Moderate email users can expect about 450 messages, while light users should see about 185. Their research also suggests that 70 percent of emails will be spam, junk or simply unwanted.
I know it took me hours to sift through all the emails in my inbox when I returned after the holidays, and I only had 575 new messages. I can’t even imagine how long it will take someone with 3,000 new messages. Good luck to those of you getting back in to the swing of things!
Have a great weekend!
January 4th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Yup, returning to that inbox after a vacation can be a challenge! I find that too many people fail to make time upon return to sort all that email. I think the best strategiy is to look at each email with the intention of sorting rather than “working” the email - that causes distractions from the task of getting through all those emails. It’s like the emergency room nurse who triages the patients according to their injuries rather than handling them in the order they come in…
Marsha
January 13th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Most email programs, even the free ones such as Gmail, have “on vacation” settings. Find them, learn them, use them.
Also, when email of a dubious nature arrives, don’t hesitate to mark it as spam.
I used to allow (near daily!) email sales pitches from companies that I figured I might like to do business with someday. Not any more. I don’t want to be bothered with their sales letters. When i get ready to buy, I’ll search the internet.