People who have hundreds on unread (work) email

v638sg7k1a92bx

I was always anxious about having unread email because I used my email as a to do list, I'm not talking about newsletters and updates I mean actual work emails. I was out with friends this weekend and conversation came up about how work email is just taking over everyone's life and that people spend their day responding to and writing emails. I though I was bad with my 157 emails until we started chatting and some people had hundreds of unopened emails and one person had over 3,000. He said that at one stage he just couldn't keep up and stopping giving a F and if it was important it would be flagged.

It does beg the question as to how efficient are emails when people are spending their work day replying to emails rather than actually working.

Hodors Appletart

I have Outlook folders set up for automatic reports that contain data that I might need at a moment's notice, but don't always need.

It saves me having to remember how to run those reports as and when I need them.

My main inbox is usually empty though.

I have heard of someone who hired someone part-time to read their emails and prioritise them this person runs a medium-sized professional medical practice in the uk.

mloc123

and counting...

Salary Negotiator

Where I work some people are awful for CC'ing in people on every email so if they CC me on I tend not to read them.

chops018

chops018 wrote: »

I've seen it and I don't know how people do it.

I like a clean and organised inbox, especially for work.

I usually spend once a day going through my emails by replying to them and filing them even if the reply is kicking it down the line by saying "Noted, will get to that next week".

I just checked my inbox and I have 230 unread emails, all newsletters, all in the newsletter directory.

In my last job, the day I left I had 15,000 unread emails, all reports no-one ever read.

Some companies really misuse email.

NSAman

depending on the time of the year, that ranges from 0 to a few hundred.

Currently, it being a busy time, I would have little or none, simply because clients are sending in information. That takes priority.

Considering I generally received between 100 and 500 a day it makes sense to do this. Other times of the year when email is not the priority I will give some a cursory glance and get back to them in a few days (if required).

moycullen14

I'd get anything between 50 and 300 emails a day. Endless, useless crap that is of no interest to me. Company employs lots of email 'jockeys' whose only role seems to be to send worthless emails. 4031 unread as of now.

Emails will NOT be read if I'm on the CC list
Emails will NOT be read if there are more than 5 or so on the 'To:' list

If it's important, I'll get a follow up 'Have you seen email re xyz?'. They know my style!

There's a special place in hell for those who send 'Thanks, John!' (! is mandatory) emails to half the world. Tossers!

Email is a complete curse the way it is used in most organisations.

v638sg7k1a92bx

NSAman wrote: »

depending on the time of the year, that ranges from 0 to a few hundred.

Currently, it being a busy time, I would have little or none, simply because clients are sending in information. That takes priority.

Considering I generally received between 100 and 500 a day it makes sense to do this. Other times of the year when email is not the priority I will give some a cursory glance and get back to them in a few days (if required).

What line of work are you in that you would get 500 emails per day?

moycullen14

If you get 300 emails and it takes 10 seconds to process each one, that's mearly an hour gone. If you can process it in 10 secs, what was the point anyway?

NSAman

Patrick Few Honeysuckle wrote: »

What line of work are you in that you would get 500 emails per day?

Nosey.;)

In general terms, I work with clients globally.

gmisk

My work one...about 2...my personal one...hundreds...

super_furry

My work inbox currently stands at 10269 unread emails. I have high priority set-up for important stuff, and it's mostly just spam and/or not important.

Keyzer

The concept around email, back in day, is not fit for purpose anymore - I personally hate email.

One of the directors I worked with in a former job had 55000 unread emails in his inbox - never deleted or filed an email.

Totally inefficient way of working.

DaeryssaOne

Reading these is actually making me anxious, I can't have even one unread email especially at work. If it's complete garbage I mark it as read and delete / file to another folder and if I need to respond I flag it and include it on my to-do list.

Even junk mail that comes into my personal email has to be marked as read, I can't cope with the thing of unread text messages / emails icon on my phone!

rizzodun

Two things I try to do (doesn't always work but can help)

1. Only send an email that has data.
Numbers, reports, attachments. If you have a question to ask then pick up the phone.
Insist on the same coming back.

2. Search inbox for cc:yourmail
Quick scan over the subjects (less than 1 minute)
Select all, file right away, if it's urgent and you need to action it then you should be in the main contacts, not copied.


Of course won't work all the time but works more often than not I've found.

irishgrover

currently at 668 unread, 180 of which as high priority. This includes on emails where I am in the To (not cc'ed) and also excludes anything over 30 days old.
I directly receive ~180 "to" emails a day.

Ubbquittious

I have 100s unread. Mostly spam

"Become a drillosaur for ladies!"

v638sg7k1a92bx

I work in a small accountancy/tax practice in the midlands with 16 staff. In our line of work, clients send their questions / problems piece meal by email and then want to send further countless emails that serve only to provide information that should have been provided in a single email in the first place had they spent a little time thinking about what they wanted or what they were asking.

Accountants do not apply a charge per email as solicitors do and if we did, perhaps the indiscriminate use of emails would stop. The problem snowballs when clients then copy a number of different people in the practice in the fear that you might not see the email but someone surely will if they copy enough people. The younger staff in our office appear to be more prepared to be spending an extended amount of time swapping emails with clients rather than talking to them which just serves to compound the problem.

This has been a thorn in my side for longer than I care to remember and I have not found an effective solution.

Seems to me that the only solution is that emails will ultimately end up having to be charged for in a similar way solicitors do but in a process that reflects the difference between the needs of the client. Until the profession resolves this, the unproductive nature of communicating by email will continue.

Has anyone implemented a system that enforces a "fair usage" policy that doesn't lose them clients but creates awareness with clients that the use of email cannot be without boundaries?

Mrs OBumble

rizzodun wrote: »

. If you have a question to ask then pick up the phone.
Insist on the same coming back.

You are so important that the other person should stop what they are doing straight away and answer your slightest question. Nice.

moycullen14

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You are so important that the other person should stop what they are doing straight away and answer your slightest question. Nice.

No, he's right. Email is fine for notifications and so on. It is absolutely NOT a substitute for a conversation/communication. Much the same can be said for texting. It just elongates the process. Maybe I'm getting old, but the lack of phone conversations in the modern office is startling. People just hide behind emails. Don't start me on the passive aggressive BS you have to put up with. Grrrrr

machaseh

Outlook filters are your friend.

I am completely bombarded with emails all day long. I have only more important mails enter my main inbox. Then I have a separate inbox for lists of work to do for our team (which I only check once in a while), and then a whole bunch of inboxes that i NEVER check as they are utterly irrelevant to me.

I've a ton of subfolders so everything gets read and filed straight away. Main inbox is my to do list

CrankyHaus

I'm lucky to work in a small place where pointless emails don't exist.

I worked in a large company before and the amount of pointless emails every day was criminal. Everything from "Lizzie on the second floor who 90% of you never met is leaving us today to travel Peru, Good luck!" to "Did anyone see my jacket in the canteen" that some clown sent to everyone in the company. Even work related information was unnecessarily shared with everyone in a department, 90% of whom had no use for it.

IMO any properly managed place should have strict rules to keep emails to focused work-related information and group emails should be restricted.
Anything else can go on an internal bulletin board.

Colonel Claptrap

I used to work with a guy who came back from 2 weeks holiday and deleted everything unread.

His mantra was: if it's really important, they'd follow up or call me.

This was back when inbox space was limited and people had to periodically delete large batches of emails to save space.

chrissb8

Very little in the inbox at the moment and that never changes. If I get an URGENT flagged email though and it is not actually urgent it is the last one to be answered. The entitlement to demand someone gets back asap because you want an answer right now when I have other things to be doing in work is so grating.

v638sg7k1a92bx

moycullen14 wrote: »

No, he's right. Email is fine for notifications and so on. It is absolutely NOT a substitute for a conversation/communication. Much the same can be said for texting. It just elongates the process. Maybe I'm getting old, but the lack of phone conversations in the modern office is startling. People just hide behind emails. Don't start me on the passive aggressive BS you have to put up with. Grrrrr

Hiding behind emails is exactly what it is.

I have to tell people to pick up the phone, there is this attitude of "oh well I sent an email and they didn't get back to me so I haven't go that finished". As if email is a like a game of tag, I sent an email so your it and now it's your responsibility.

topper75

Mails addressed only to me are OK. But you'll often find yourself on dozens of incontinent 'lists' that machine gun out tangential stuff for arse-covering purposes, such is the modern corporate way. If I read all those, I wouldn't do anything else.

I don't do anything else anyway, but you get my point.

v638sg7k1a92bx

chrissb8 wrote: »

Very little in the inbox at the moment and that never changes. If I get an URGENT flagged email though and it is not actually urgent it is the last one to be answered. The entitlement to demand someone gets back asap because you want an answer right now when I have other things to be doing in work is so grating.

We get that a lot aswell. Emails and text messages from clients. "please call me URGENTLY", or "I URGENTLY need something"

When everything is urgent, nothing is.

Jim Root

I have a rule that sends all internal email to a special folder that doesn't auto prompt or interrupt proper work. This cuts out a lot of the office tossers with self important emails. I check the folder at the end of the day.

Johnny Sausage

1 email

facehugger99

I read and file them all unless the sender puts that 'high importance' exclamation mark thing on them - those I just delete.

machaseh

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

This was back when inbox space was limited and people had to periodically delete large batches of emails to save space.

I still have to do that every few months or so. In 2020. That's how many emails I get.

v638sg7k1a92bx

bluewolf wrote: »

I've a ton of subfolders so everything gets read and filed straight away. Main inbox is my to do list

How do you move your emails to subfolders, is it drop and drag or do you have short cuts?

Johnny Sausage

Patrick Few Honeysuckle wrote: »

How do you move your emails to subfolders, is it drop and drag or do you have short cuts?

you can set up rules

Wildly Boaring

Zero

I always have zero

If it's useless or some auto mail or notification....delete
cced and i don't care....read first sentence and delete
cced and really don't care i will write a note to sender to remove me from cc .....and delete
If's it's useful or I'm cced genuinely....read and delete
Useful...read and file
Need to reply....read and stays in inbox until i reply....then delete or file

Currently 18 read emails in inbox
4 are bills I don't want to pay
5 or 6 I very important, i've replied and awaiting response
Rest I need to get back to and will today.

Get between 50 and 100 a day I'd say
Good shot - 50ish are deleted straight away, maybe more
I will read anything cced in by someone under me
I don't turn on outlook before say 10, then turn off till lunch, usually on all afternoon.
Do not have on phone

i'm equally ruthless with meetings
I go once if invited at end if pointless I go up to organiser and get myself uninvited
Based on construction sites a lot. We tend to avoid meetings and email where possible, In the office maybe 2 days a week different game altogether

v638sg7k1a92bx

Johnny Sausage wrote: »

you can set up rules

Yes but I like to read them before I move to a folder. I have a folder for each client and after I read the email it gets filed in the client folder.

Tony EH

0

And I get a lot as I deal with EMEA, APAC and LATAM every day.

Thing is, I know which ones to really pay attention to and which ones are just for glancing at quickly.

Anyone who has 100's (or more) of UNREAD emails isn't doing their job.

RobertKK

Only 62,437. It could be worse.

Mrs OBumble

moycullen14 wrote: »

No, he's right. Email is fine for notifications and so on. It is absolutely NOT a substitute for a conversation/communication. Much the same can be said for texting. It just elongates the process. Maybe I'm getting old, but the lack of phone conversations in the modern office is startling. People just hide behind emails. Don't start me on the passive aggressive BS you have to put up with. Grrrrr

I'm happy to talk.

But unless you're important or the issue is genuinely urgent, it needs to be at a mutually agree convenient time, not just whenever it occurs go you to interrupt me.

Google effect of interruption on flow state if you need help to figure out why.

Patrick Few Honeysuckle

Patrick Few Honeysuckle wrote: »

Yes but I like to read them before I move to a folder. I have a folder for each client and after I read the email it gets filed in the client folder.

drop and drag
or copy and drag if it fits in 2 categories

partyguinness

Our IT guy told me I have circa 40k emails on the server which far outstrips anyone else.

10 years ago I didn't even have a computer on my desk- I had a typist for that stuff. I spent my time actually doing the job properly. Now I could all time just reading and replying but getting nothing done.

IamMetaldave

0 unread. Although much like others here, if I am CC on it, I pay no attention to it. I have rules set up on 90% of regular emails to go to their respective folders.

is_that_so

I use folders and lots of rules which helps in prioritising them. I have rarely got to more than a dozen in my Inbox, save after holidays.

con___manx1

Some people in my work place have access to work emails on there phones.
I refuse to do it. I don't give a crap about work when it's time to go home.
I don't get paid for that.

partyguinness

con___manx1 wrote: »

Some people in my work place have access to work emails on there phones.
I refuse to do it. I don't give a crap about work when it's time to go home.
I don't get paid for that.

I get emails to my phone- my choice.

I don't answer them but it is just so I know what's in store rather than coming into the office blind- that stresses me out even more. Sort of a heads up really.

NSAman

con___manx1 wrote: »

Some people in my work place have access to work emails on there phones.
I refuse to do it. I don't give a crap about work when it's time to go home.
I don't get paid for that.

It is a choice.

Monday mornings I get up around 4am and browse through all emails before going into work. Sitting there with mug of tea watching the news and browsiing through the weekends emails is an easy way to pick and choose the most important and organise the day ahead.

I usually do this on my iPad.

This morning there were 300 emails to go through, the first hour to two hours of a morning are spent emailing and catching up on emails. The rest of the day are free then to work until everyone in the office has gone home (4pm) and I answer any important ones that have arrived that day.

Emails can waste a huge portion of the day, I like to spend specific hours of the day reading/responding to the most important.

As others have said, there is nothing like a phone call to solve an issue, if it is that important.

Rufeo

Seriously reading the behaviour in this thread is what makes working in offices so shyte. lol

Hector Savage

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

I used to work with a guy who came back from 2 weeks holiday and deleted everything unread.

His mantra was: if it's really important, they'd follow up or call me.

This was back when inbox space was limited and people had to periodically delete large batches of emails to save space.

Yeah, I knew a guy that did similar - he would set up a rule while away though, to just forward everything to the trash can.

Same idea, if it's important they will follow up.

Zero unread, I read all mails as they come in during the day/evening (both personal and work) and catch up on anything that comes in over night the next morning (sometimes in bed before I even get up on the phone or else over a cup of tea at work while I'm waking up). I couldn't stand to have unread mails.

I have my work email setup along side my personal email in the mail app on my iPhone so anytime I refresh the app I get all my mails and will flick though them be it evening, weekend or on holidays etc. I never arrive in on a Monday or back from a holiday to any unread mails bar those that come in the night before. I flag stuff that needs action and delete junk as I go.

ednwireland

zero unread, that goes back for a few years just migrated into gmail enterprise as well