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British Report Details the Stress of Email Communication

Posted by Zonk on from the yeah-way-rougher-than-construction-work dept.

WaltonNews writes "British researchers have found that pressures from handling emails throughout the work day cause stress and frustration with workers. Researchers from a pair of collaborating universities have found that heavy email communication causes anxiety, with some workers thinking they checked their email as often as once every fifteen minutes. The reality was much worse. From the article: 'When researchers fitted monitors to their computers, workers were found to be viewing e-mails up to 40 times an hour. About 33 per cent said they felt stressed by the volume of e-mails and the need to reply quickly. A further 28 per cent said they felt "driven" when they checked messages because of the pressure to respond. Just 38 per cent of workers were relaxed enough to wait a day or longer before replying.'"

9 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Personally by 0racle · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just don't care that much about my job. What's with people stressing out so much about some e-mail?

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    1. Re:Personally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Think of it this way, it's kind of like the stress of reading /. and the pressure to first post.

  2. Frog with no legs becomes deaf. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    When researchers fitted monitors to their computers, workers were found to be viewing e-mails up to 40 times an hour

    Well, duh! I'm guessing that workers without monitors fitted to their computers not only rarely checked their e-mail, but could not do much of anything with their computers.

  3. Brits worry too much by peter303 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Most of the "sky is falling" articles come from the UK especially global warming. I immediately discount any news article from UK.

    1. Re:Brits worry too much by ucla74 · · Score: 2, Funny

      In the UK, the sky usually IS falling.

  4. Re:If I don't do it then, I forget by ginbot462 · · Score: 2, Funny

    > Turn email messages into "To-do" items on your To-Do list, or turn them into items on your calendar.

    This item is actually on my TODO list. And that TODO list is also on a larger meta-TODO list. And that meta-list is stored in a binary format whose reader's code looks like // XXX: TODO - write comment about how I need to write a reader to read my meta-TODO list that includes multiple TODO lists one which has an item about replying to email should be put into a TODO list // PS need to learn you can use punctuation and keep commments below 81 chars

    --
    Atlas Shrugged : Thematic Story :: Battlefield Earth : Organized Religion
  5. Bah! by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 2, Funny

    You think e-mail gives you stress?

    I've got 4 mod points left and everytime I log onto /. it keeps saying 'Use 'em or lose 'em'. Now that's what I call stress.

    --
    What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
  6. Re:wait a day? unheard of! by tehcyder · · Score: 3, Funny

    They IM and expect immediate response.
    Ring them up and tell them to stop bothering you.
    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  7. The monitors are the important part by Jay+L · · Score: 4, Funny

    When researchers fitted monitors to their computers, workers were found to be viewing e-mails up to 40 times an hour.

    Workers using computers without monitors checked their e-mail far less often.