hand press button and e-mail

American workers are inundated with email and other digital communications, and many of them are ready for a break.

Although digital communications were essential for businesses to survive during the pandemic, they continue to consume a substantial amount of time for workers even after they returned to the office. The average person spends two hours and 45 minutes on work-related digital communications each day, a new survey by EmailTooltester found. In addition:

  • The average person receives 32 emails a day. This ranges between 1 in 10 receiving upwards of 50 emails a day at work and 2 in 10 people receiving fewer than 10.
  • The average person has 30 unread emails in their work email box, with 12% having more than 50.
  • Four in five respondents have dreaded opening their work email inbox.
As a result, 80% of employees have felt anxious about email correspondence at work, and more than half regularly feel anxious about it. The results of this anxiety include triple-checking emails, and three-quarters said their anxiety is compounded by the struggle to read someone's tone through email or work messaging software.

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