• Two and a half hours every day spent on email, adding up to 81 days a year
• Mobile devices have meant people check their email out of the office

The average worker spends two-and-a-half hours writing emails every day, researchers have discovered.

A poll found that more than a quarter of most employees’ time is wasted sending, receiving or sorting out emails instead of doing their jobs.

That means that every year workers spend some 81 working days hunched over their computers – often emailing other people in the office.

The research points towards the technology driven culture that has taken over where putting in the hours is what is important, regardless of how much work you actually do.

The poll was carried out by the Respected McKinsey Global Institute and was based on a typical working week of 46 hours.

Assuming an employee spends 13 hours a week on emails, that works out as 28 per cent of the time they are at work.

You’ve got (more) mail: The average office worker now spends over a quarter of their day dealing with email
Two and a half hours every day spent on email, adding up to 81 days a year
Mobile devices have meant people check their email out of th office
By DANIEL BATES IN NEW YORK

PUBLISHED: 13:34 EDT, 31 July 2012 | UPDATED: 13:36 EDT, 31 July 2012

6

View comments
The average worker spends two-and-a-half hours writing emails every day, researchers have discovered.

A poll found that more than a quarter of most employees’ time is wasted sending, receiving or sorting out emails instead of doing their jobs.

That means that every year workers spend some 81 working days hunched over their computers – often emailing other people in the office.

Email overload: Researchers say we spend an astonishing two and a half hours ever day dealing with email
Email overload: Researchers say we spend an astonishing two and a half hours ever day dealing with email

The research points towards the technology driven culture that has taken over where putting in the hours is what is important, regardless of how much work you actually do.

The poll was carried out by the Respected McKinsey Global Institute and was based on a typical working week of 46 hours.

Assuming an employee spends 13 hours a week on emails, that works out as 28 per cent of the time they are at work.

RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy actor Anthony Bate dies aged 84

Paula texted to say I had replaced her in marathon, reveals shocked Murray
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Share
By comparison employees spent just 6.4 hours per week, or 14 per cent of their time, ‘communicating and collaborating internally’.

According to McKinsey, making changes to how people use computers such as using more social media could make them up to 25 per cent more productive.

The findings are the latest in a series of polls which call into question whether or not the computer revolution really is a good thing.

A recent survey found that the typical working day lasts from 7.17am to 7.02pm because employees are checking their work emails on their phones outside of office hours.

In a separate poll, half of bosses have admitted that their most productive time is in the car on the way to work as they are not so distracted.

Relationships expert Jean Hannah Edelstein said that email has its place but that it should be used carefully as it ‘cuts us off from people’.

She said: ‘It can cut off essential aspects of communication that can only be via face-to-face contact, like tone of voice, facial expressions and body language.

‘Having the conversations in the first instance in person is the best way to get to the heart of any matter.

‘If you’re emailing people who sit next to you, it may be time to think again.’

Miss Edelstein added that some people also use email to avoid a difficult conversation or a confrontation.

She said: ‘Turning to email can even escalate a conflict, such as if you write a long email rant about something that may be more easily clarified and sorted through a face-to-face conversation.’

Read full article here.