How the Number of Emails You Receive a Day is Linked to Your Stress Level

A new study on people's workplace experiences indicates that emails are "double-edged swords" that provide a useful means of communication but can also be a source of frustration. The study was conducted by the London-based Future Work Center.

Urging users to seize control of their email instead of being ruled by it, the researchers said: "You may want to consider launching your email application when you want to use email and closing it down for periods when you don't wish to be interrupted by incoming emails. In other words, use email when you intend to, not just because it's always running in the background."

The team surveyed almost as many as 2,000 working people about the pros and cons of using email.

The researchers found that two of the most stressful activities were leaving email on all day and reading emails early in the morning and late at night.

There was a ‘strong relationship’ between use of the ‘push’ feature and perceived email pressure.

Push email is an email system that provides an always-on capability, in which new email is actively transferred as it arrives by the mail delivery agent or server to the mail user agent or the email client.

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Higher email pressure was linked to more examples of work having a negative effect on home life.

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Source-Medindia