Cost of Obsessively Checking Your Email: $650 Billion a Year*

Henry Blodget | June 13, 2008 9:05 PM

emailaddict.jpgAmerican workers waste $650 billion a year checking email too often, the NYT's Matt Richtel says. Specifically, they waste $650 billion trying to get back to work after checking email too often:

A typical information worker who sits at a computer all day turns to his e-mail program more than 50 times and uses instant messaging 77 times, according to one measure by RescueTime, a company that analyzes computer use habits. The company, which draws its data from 40,000 people who have tracking software on their computers, found that on average the worker also stops at 40 Web sites over the course of the day.

The fractured attention comes at a cost. In the United States, more than $650 million a year in productivity is lost because of unnecessary interruptions, predominately nonurgent digital communication, according to Basex. The firm says that a big chunk of that cost comes from the time it takes people to recover from an interruption and get back to work.

The good news: Companies like Google are committed to doing something about it. How? By putting safeties on their email programs. For example: Email Addict, a new feature Google rolled out last week after figuring out how much time Googlers were wasting using Gmail.

More at NYT >

*NYT story originally said $650 million, which, as a reader pointed out, is chicken feed. The NYT story has since been updated, but we should have questioned the figure.

Subscribe to SAI: RSS, email newsletter (no spam)

More:

Share:
Post to Del.icio.us


< Prev. Story
Next Story >

63 Comments

Deva Hazarika (URL) said:
The website for the nonprofit research group mentioned in that article just launched - http://www.iorgforum.org/

Hope to see you and some of your readers at the conference, Henry!
Brian said:
I was about to say that $650 million a year in lost productivity due to checking email is trivial - there are roughly 150 million Americans in the workforce so that works out to just over $4 per worker per year.

But then I read the article and noticed two things:

1) It says $650 billion a year on the NYT article (and since you pasted "million" above, the NYT must have corrected their article since you copied it)
2) The article doesn't seem to specifically say that the $650 billion lost of productivity is due to email - just unspecified "mundane matters." Actually, the article has again been updated / corrected - while it used to say "predominately nonurgent digital communication," now it says "predominately mundane matters."
The New York Times going to dogs! (Thanks--I should have caught. You're right that $650 million is peanuts).
YourBoss said:
Which is exactly why I love outlook 2007. Coupled with Vista 64, it is indisputably the best email client, the one that best increases my productivity --

it crashes so often and suffers from various funny problems that make it impossible to check email often. So some one please remove the $4M I am contributing to the productivity lost.
Victor said:
Only a Soviet-style command and control economist could come up with a pronouncement like this. Who's to say this time is "wasted"? Maybe for some people it's satisfying to check their email frequently, and for many it may even boost productivity.
Ruben Zevallos Jr. (URL) said:
That kind of statistics, just make the shareholders, CEOs and CIOs more worry about what kind liberty they give to us, employees... if they realise that they can grab more money from us... they will create and real world, as the Charles Chaplin predicted at it's movie in the beggining of XX century, or, you can say, the 1984 of George Orwell...
cleaning rancho santa margarita (URL) said:
Welcome to Nicolas Cleans OC!

We are a licensed and insured cleaning services provider.




Our friendly staff has been providing our Orange County customers with cleaning services for residential dwellings and commercial properties since 2003.

We specialize in providing affordable, reliable cleaning and maintenance services for:

+ Commercial: Office Buildings, Office Suites, Construction Job Site Clean-Up, Janitorial/Maintenance.

+ Residential: House, Condominium, Apartment, Rental Property, Vacation Property.

We offer flexible scheduling with competitive rates available for weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly service and maintenance, depending on your needs and budget.

Ask us about our 24-Hour cleaning services. We're available for around-the-clock service as needed!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you have a question about our cleaning services? Please contact us by e-mail for more information. Or, call 949-573-1117 (office), or 949-842-7598 (cell/voice mail) to schedule a FREE CONSULTATION.
www.nicolascleansoc.com
wow gold (URL) said:
Farming for WOW GOld isn't easy,but you can buy cheap wow GoLd,
WOw golDpower leveling on sale. Looking to buy woW gOld,
or wOw Gold sell,Items or Accounts ? Please look here WOw gold,
wow gold, WOw GOld, woW goLD,
WoW gold, WOw gold.
WOW GOLD (URL) said:
You may compare the price then buy wow gold from us . It will be a great fun that you will save huge money. We know what a gamer need so that we will provide you a really instant way of delivery, if you buy world of warcraft gold, gold wow from us. Just place your order to buy wow gold, ffxi gil from us then feel the world class service
rfhk (URL) said:
注册香港公司包括公司名称查册核实、准备首次会议记录、准备所有法定文件、安排所有股东签署文件、担任公司法定秘书、香港公司注册处代宣誓、代付公司注册费用、代付注册资本印花税、印制公司股票本一本、印制公司章程20本、印制股东大事册一册、钢印一枚、标准章一枚、更改章一枚。 注册香港公司香港公司年审香港公司注册分为两种，私人性质的和合伙性质的，前者一人即可，后者必须两人以上。所谓无限公司必须承担无限责任。只有本港居民或香港有限公司旗下可以成立香港无限公司。(如：集团、集团公司、总公司、协会、商会、基金会、中心、大学、学院、研究院、出版社、旅行社、委员会)。
公司成立于2003年，是目前杭州发展最快的电子商务平台服务提供商之一。专注于开拓网络应用服务，为企业、政府、组织、个人提供最为齐全的域名注册、虚拟主机、杭州网站建设、 杭州网站推广、商业网站策划和杭州网页设计制作、杭州网站制作以及杭州网站优化(GOOGLE优化)等全套企业网上营销，电子商务一站式全程服务的专业网络机构。 我们在“在学习中进步，在进步中总结，边总结边实践”中不断成长，着重于杭州网站建设与网站优化的完美结合。至力为企业打造一个美观大方、管理科学、易于搜索于一体的企业网站。
asdf said:
cisco防火墙
道闸-挡车器
车库门
工业门
伸缩门
卷帘门
piping producers
Tubing pipe
ERW steel pipe
China casing pipes
Steel piping manufacturers
China steel pipe fittings
China steel pipe manufacturers
China seamless steel pipes
wedding dress
bridesmaid dress
bridesmaid dress
flower girl dress
wedding dresses
wholesale wedding dress
wedding dress factory
cisco防火墙
道闸-挡车器
车库门
工业门
伸缩门
卷帘门
piping producers
Tubing pipe
ERW steel pipe
China casing pipes
Steel piping manufacturers
China steel pipe fittings
China steel pipe manufacturers
China seamless steel pipes
wedding dress
bridesmaid dress
bridesmaid dress
flower girl dress
wedding dresses
wholesale wedding dress
wedding dress factory

World of Warcraft Powerleveling
World of Warcraft Power leveling
wow Powerleveling
wow Power leveling
gear manufacturer
wholesale jordan
cheap jordans
gear pump
plastic gear
Thermal fogger
fogging machine
ULV Sprayer
Cold fogger
google优化
北京google优化
北京google排名
北京google推广
google左侧优化
seo
google推广
北京google优化网
企业seo

Thermal fogger
fogging machine
ULV Sprayer
Cold fogger
道闸-挡车器
车库门
工业门
伸缩门
卷帘门



投资移民
加拿大移民
移民加拿大
加拿大投资移民
投资移民加拿大
新加坡移民
移民新加坡
香港移民
移民香港


白癜风
外阴白斑
瑞特尔对讲机
摩托罗拉对讲机
建伍对讲机
电缆桥架
cisco防火墙
隔音
cisco交换机
cisco模块
cisco维修
3com交换机
玻璃瓶
隔膜泵
隔膜泵
计量泵
咖啡
雷蒙磨
梁山伯
梁山伯与祝英台
梁祝
World of Warcraft Powerleveling
World of Warcraft Power leveling
wow Powerleveling
wow Power leveling
gear manufacturer
wholesale jordan
cheap jordans
gear pump
plastic gear
Thermal fogger
fogging machine
ULV Sprayer
Cold fogger
google优化
北京google优化
北京google排名
北京google推广
google左侧优化
seo
google推广
北京google优化网
企业seo

Thermal fogger
fogging machine
ULV Sprayer
Cold fogger
道闸-挡车器
车库门
工业门
伸缩门
卷帘门



投资移民
加拿大移民
移民加拿大
加拿大投资移民
投资移民加拿大
新加坡移民
移民新加坡
香港移民
移民香港


白癜风
外阴白斑
瑞特尔对讲机
摩托罗拉对讲机
建伍对讲机
电缆桥架
cisco防火墙
隔音
cisco交换机
cisco模块
cisco维修
3com交换机
玻璃瓶
隔膜泵
隔膜泵
计量泵
咖啡
雷蒙磨
梁山伯
梁山伯与祝英台
梁祝
jeff said:
mp4 converter for mac allow you to trim videos, crop videos and apply special effects to videos.
Rosanna said:
mac video converter is the best software you have been looking for , no matter you are a beginner or veteran, you will find mac video converter is really made for you.And so does dvd ripper for mac, no matter you want to convert dvd to any format you want, it is always your best helper.

selamler (URL) said:
sohbet chat sohbet chat çet sohbet chat özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış sesli chat sesli sohbet sesli görüntülü chat görüntülü sohbet kameralı sohbet kameralı chat bayan arkadaş görüntülü çet sesli muhabbet kızlarla sohbet kızlarla chat kameralı çet kameralı sohpet kızlarla çet chat gizli kamera güvenlik sistemleri kamera güvenlik kamerası cilt bakımı cilt bakım ürünleri ıslak mendil kolonyalı mendil kolonyalı mendil güvenlik kamerası gizli kamera kamera canlı sohbet sohpet sohbet sesli sesli chat sesli sohbet kameralı sohbet kameralı chat görüntülü chat görüntülü sohbet bayanlarla sohbet sesli muhabbet bayanlarla chat kızlarla sohbet bayan arkadaş görüntülü çet sesli çet sesli sohpet seslichat sesliçet kameralı sohpet kameralı çet kızlarla sohpet kızlarla çet sesli sohbet sesli sohbet sesli sohbet sesli chat sesli chat chat çet ek iş ek gelir mirc avşa adası avşa avşa adası avşa tatil tatil köyleri "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması ıslak mendil ıslak mendil kolonyalı mendil kolonyalı mendil paketleme ambalajlama paket web tasarım seo refreshing towel perde tatil kozmetik haber joy türk radyo aşk haber video tatil tekstilkent yabancı personel çalışma izni


sohbet
sohbet
sohbet
çet
gizli kamera
gizli kamera
güvenlik kamerası
güvenlik kamerası
driver
web tasarım
cilt bakım ürünleri
mp4 player (URL) said:
wholesale wholesale Car DVD Players, Car Audio, MP4 Players, MP4 Watches, Digital Cameras, mp4 player, Spy Cameras, Digital Camcorders, wholesale electronics, Surveillance Equipments, Digital Picture Frames, Computer Parts, china electronics Mobile Phones, Car Accessories, Gadgets, Car Video, Bluetooth and Consumer Electronics from China mp3 player Wholesale Warehouse!Cheap Electronics Wholesale Direct from China,china wholesale is a Hong Kong based company, discount electronicsour business office locate in Shenzhen of China, the global manufacturer and sourcing center of mp4 player electronic products. We works for mp4 watch providing for all business persons, such as ebay sellers,distributors,digital photo frame store owners, retailers,digital cameras drop shippers and small wholesalers with high quality goods at a competitive price.car dvd Our cost savings are passed along to our car video
customers as your profit.digital camcorders Abiding by the principle of "Super Quality, Satisfactory Services",mp5 we are striving hard to be your portable media playersgood business partner. With our joint efforts, we convinced car audio that the business between us will grow to benefit both of us.
wow gold said:
wow gold site:wow gold | world of warcraft gold



wow gold site:[url=http://veryge.com/]wow gold[/url] | [url=http://veryge.com/]world of warcraft gold[/url]
Eric L. Prentis said:
With this easy-to-use m2ts converter，you can edit and adjust the video settings, Futuremore, , this poweful tool can let you playback your converted files on all popular portable players.
video joiner for mac can Join multiple videos of same or different format and save it as single video.
wow gold (URL) said:



warhammer gold site:[url=http://my4game.com/]warhammer gold[/url]
[url=http://my4game.com/]warhammer power leveling[/url]
[url=http://wow-gold-powerleveling.com/]warhammer power leveling[/url]
[url=http://wow-gold-powerleveling.com/]warhammer gold[/url]
[url=http://my4game.com/]aion gold[/url]
[url=http://goleveling.com/]cheapest wow gold[/url]
[url=http://goleveling.com/]warhammer gold[/url]
[url=http://goleveling.com/]warhammer power leveling[/url]

warhammer gold (URL) said:
wow power leveling site:wow gold | wow power leveling
wow gold (URL) said:
wow gold site:wow gold
world of warcraft gold
welcome to wow gold,world of warcraft gold,warcraft gold,world of warcraft gold,wow leveling, the cheapWoW Power Leveling, service site,world of warcraft WoW Power Leveling,fast and secure service.we WoW Power Leveling, WoW gold isn’t found everywhere in the game; WoW Power Leveling,you have to look for it and, when you find it,WoW Gold, you have to save it.WoW Gold,WOW goldis earned through doing things like killing enemies, WoW Gold, hunting and crafting. WoW Gold, is for sale online at a number of locations. buy WoW Gold,The decision wow gold,wow gold to buy wow gold is one Cheap WoW Gold, that many video gamers wrestle with. Cheap WoW Gold,Many World of Warcraft players try to play the game on their own wow power level before making the decision to buy wow gold. Cheap WoW Gold,If you wow gold,want to buy Cheap WoW Gold,wow gold there is nothing wrong with it.WoW Gold, Buying wow gold is similar to finding cheat codes WoW Gold,World of warcraft Power Leveling,World of warcraft Power Leveling,age of conan gold,aoc gold,buy aoc gold,cheap aoc gold,aoc power leveling,age of conan power leveling,aoc power leveling,aoc gold,age of conan gold,age of conan power leveling,maplestory mesos, maple story mesos,maple story mesos,maple story mesos,maple story mesos,Maple Story mesos,MapleStory mesos,ms mesos,mesos,SilkRoad Gold,SRO Gold,SilkRoad Online Gold,eq2 plat,eq2 gold,eq2 Platinum,EverQuest 2 Platinum,EverQuest 2 gold,EverQuest 2 plat,lotro gold,lotr gold,Lord of the Rings online Gold,oil purifier,rolex replica,replica rolex,chongqing,yantai,evening dresses,evening gowns,wedding dresses,bridal gowns,wedding gowns,cocktail dresses,Bridesmaid dresses,prom dresses,formal dresses,Promotional items,Promotional products,Wedding dresses,Pet supplies,Dog clothes,Replica handbags,Replica Watches,wedding cake toppers,cake toppers,digital cameras,digital camera,warhammer online,war gold,digital cameras,digital camera,Mobile Phones,Mobile Phone,Cell Phones,Cell Phone,Mp3,world of warcraft power leveling,world of warcraft power leveling,power leveling wow,power leveling wow,power leveling wow,cheap wow power leveling,cheap wow power leveling,cheap wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,power leveling,power leveling,power leveling,power level,power level,power level,
bjloving18 said:
bjloving18
ibj2008
自由行
出境游
海岛游
国旅
澳洲旅游
弯管机
剪板机
折边机
铣边机
卷板机
婚纱摄影
红外测温仪
股骨头坏死
超声波测厚仪
粗糙度仪
超声波探伤仪
涂层测厚仪
北京印刷
العاب (URL) said:

thank you and nice pic

العاب
مفضلتى
العاب برامج
brad (URL) said:
640-802 Cost of Obsessively Checking Your Email: $650 Billion a Year* What are you thinking! You could say that too.
dofus said:
Bon marche de dofus kamas .achat de dofus.le prix moins cher.nous vendons dofus kamas ,or de dofus.24/7 appui-en-ligne et

livraison rapide. Dofus Kamas
dofus
Wakfu
wakfu kamas
dofus
dofus kama
watches (URL) said:
http://www.pxhelp.com/
wm (URL) said:
你找搬家公司吗？无名是一家专业深圳搬家公司, 提供深圳搬家，你可以通过深圳吊车公司，深圳尾板车出租
ser said:
When I met you, I am both happy and painful, I am happy that in this vast network of the sea, so many people, how will I recognize you? I remember that I meet the Metin2 g

adanalıold in the game so we know each other. This is the God of our arrangement is that I really very happy, every day you have in this screen and the sound of the wind and I talk and laugh and care in every possible way, and I forget my lone
aşkı memnu
liness, I forget all the unhappy, I am a wçok güzel hareketler bunlar
arm, feel the love gentle, I think I am the happiest person in the world. e-okulI look forward to a real life, there is no time to retaarda turanin the love, but you go back. You are my most trusted people, but you threw me in one immense ice-cold water, I can fend for them. So I only go to earn theghost money to change my life. I want to live in a better life, and I want to beat myself. Though I realize it is my fault, I have to apologize to you, so if you want to leave me, I will not say anything that is your ide
erter (URL) said:
纳美旅游公司是华人知名公司拥有国际机票 ， 国际打折机票 ， 打折国际机票， 国际机票查询， 中美机票， 美中机票fgd .
sesli chat (URL) said:
sesli chat sesli sohbet
thank you very much
深圳搬家公司 (URL) said:
深圳无名搬家公司是工商注册的一家专业的深圳搬家公司，提供深圳搬家服务，你可以通过深圳吊车公司，深圳尾板车出租，深圳吊装公司
mmoga (URL) said:
MMOGA mediates virtual goods for online games within 1-24 hours. Offers don´ t only consist of the latest games, items, WoW powerleveling, WoW gold but WoW accounts and much more. Furthermore we have currencies for plenty top online games like Silkroad Gold, Guild Wars Platin, Eve ISK, Lotro Gold, AOE Gold and many more.
In addition we offer prepaid game cards for many games. Multilingual competent team, we are your MMORPG´s partner.
http://www.mmoga.com
Markus Kenwood (URL) said:
GlobaleNyheter
promotions (URL) said:
China www.TopPromotional.com Your one stop shop for cheap and discount custom imprinted promotional product, Business Gifts,Promotional Items,Promotional Gifts !Look into quality promotional products for corporate gifts that will maximize your company's exposure. Useful promotional corporate gifts and marketing products make and build positive attitudes toward your company. Create distinctive personalized corporate gifts and give aways!
seslichat (URL) said:
seslichat, Sesli Chat, Sohbet, görüntülü chat, sesli chat paneli, kameralı chat, sesli sohbet, cet, chet, sopet, chet, sohpet, kameralı sohbet, muhabbet

Join the discussion



Copyright © 2008 Silicon Alley Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.