ORLANDO, Fla. – Email -- it’s become a fundamental and fast way to communicate. A new report shows that the average employee receives close to 180 emails every day and 40% of them are not even opened.
For emails that are opened, the reply rate is just 16%. The widespread misuse of email has led to unwanted inbox clutter.
So how many emails do you get in a day? And how many of those are annoying junk emails?
It may be time to clean up your inbox. Studies have found that digital clutter like e-vites, calendar reminders, group emails, and spam can hinder your productivity in the exact same way a messy office does.
To avoid overwhelming your email, apply filters. In Gmail, hit the “show search options” icon in the search bar at the top. A filter menu will open immediately that allows to you create a filter with any of these parameters.
Also, delete or archive emails you can’t take action on anymore. A great way to begin changing your relationship with your email is by confronting all those old messages you never replied to but promised you would. Take a deep breath and start from the bottom to the top of your unread emails.
And, for incoming emails, turn them into tasks. One of the most important habits in maintaining a tidy inbox is to turn emails into actions on your to-do list.
The biggest contributor to email overload is group emails sent to shared inboxes or distribution lists. According to state of email report, 51% of emails people receive are group emails.