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You Spend More Than 5 Hours Each Week Checking Your Email (fortune.com)
In a survey of more than 1,000 "white-collar workers" across the U.S., people reported checking their email an average of 2.5 hours each weekday. The average person checks work email more than three hours each day, according to Adobe, which conducted the survey. From a report: According to the report, email is most popular among people between the ages of 25 and 34 -- today's Millennial generation, roughly. That group spends an average of 6.4 hours in their Inboxes each day, compared to 5.8 hours for those between the ages of 18 and 24. For the first time in the three years Adobe has conducted the survey, email isn't the sole most desirable way to communicate with colleagues. Instead, face-to-face conversations are tied with it as the top communication method at work. When it's time for tough conversations, though -- like quitting a job -- face-to-face conversations have lost some ground. Just 52% of those between the ages of 25 and 34 say they would use a face-to-face conversation to quit a job. That number jumps to 77% among those over the age of 35.
The higher level/pay a person gets, likely the more time they DO spend in that style of communications.
A factory floor guy probably spends 0 work hours using email, except perhaps on their own phone during downtime.
A low level floor manager might spend 2 hours a week.
A middle manager might spend 7 hours a week on emails.
An upper manager might spend 15 or more on emails, and the rest largely on meetings largely reiterating the messages in the emails.
A solo contractor might spend 20 hours, since they're playing all those roles and can't skimp on the communication part between all their projects. And a portion of that time they can't really bill for, which is part of the whole price equation for their time.
As long as people work for people, they'll need to keep in touch.
Ryan Fenton