What's your relationship with your inbox? Here are 5 interesting things about email habits.
Let's face it, we all have one. Some of us, in fact, have several. Some are public, some are just for the office, some are used only for a job search and most people keep at least one as a secret. As for me, I have several email accounts and I use different ones for different reasons.
When people talk about email, it's obvious that it is something that is very personal. In case you ever wondered how other people handle their inboxes, here are 5 email habits, that you might find surprising:
- 59% of people check email from the bathroom – Email is certainly addictive. One of the key reasons that many of us feel such a compulsion to check it frequently is due to “variable-interval reinforcement”. This is a psychological term that basically means that most of the time, there isn't anything good in our inbox, but occasionally, there is something great. We can't predict when it's going to happen, so we have to keep checking – just in case.A survey from AOL showed that 59 percent of people check their email even in the bathroom. I would imagine that the other 41 percent don't have smart phones or laptops.
- You probably think you check your inbox less than you actually do – Even when people claim to not check their email very often, when their computer habits are logged, they actually check every 5 minutes or so. This means that we are more dependent on it than we want to admit, and that it is more of an interruption to our day than we realize. In fact, some studies suggest that it can take about 62 seconds, or a little over a minute, to recover from the interruption and get back on task.
- People have different inbox management styles – We all put effort into sending email, but there are three different styles of email recipients. Some people are very relaxed about their email and treat it like snail mail, they aren't quick to respond and generally have set times to go through their inbox and respond to mail when they feel like it, rather than making it an immediate priority. Other people are much more driven to respond promptly. The reply quickly and expect others to do the same. These are the people who will send email complaining about a lack of response after only an hour (or less) has passed. The third type of e-mailer is one who is so stressed out by email that they almost refuse to use it to communicate. They tend to use instant messaging programs almost exclusively.
- People lie more easily through email – Of course, it's no surprise that lying is easier when it isn't done face to face. I was surprised to learn, however, that even compared to pencil and paper, lying was easier and more frequent via email. This may be because not only do people feel less connected and feel less rapport over email, but it feels impermanent and since there is a lack of social cues, lying is just easier.
- People are less co-operative over email – Surprisingly, email isn't the best medium for collaborating on a project. Not only are people less willing to co-operate and even feel justified in not offering as much help as they could, but people are more negative over email.
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What are your email habits? Do any of these ring true for you? Let me know in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManufacturingWorkersBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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