Email Interruptions Take 64 Seconds to Recover From
It takes on average 64 seconds to recover from an email interruption:
Another study, carried out last year, revealed that it takes an average of 64 seconds to recover your train of thought after interruption by email. This means that people who check their email every five minutes waste a whole working day – or 8.5 hours a week – figuring out what they were doing moments before. (From Mail Online)
Even though the study took place a while ago, it seems to be all over the news right now:
The original article is Case Study: Evaluating the Effect of Email Interruptions within the Workplace by Dr Thomas Jackson.
The Guardian article includes some tactics to prevent emails from wasting so much of your time. One of the tactics is to:
Use other tools. Twitter and instant messaging (IM) are both better for asking short questions of chosen groups. Wikis are better for collaborating on documents. Blogs are better for publishing information and having informal conversations.