This article was published on March 15, 2012

One in ten Brits never delete any emails, says Microsoft study


One in ten Brits never delete any emails, says Microsoft study

The UK is a nation of digital mucky-pups, according to a new report from Microsoft Hotmail today.

The research conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Hotmail shows that one in ten Brits never delete any email. Those who admit to keeping all this digital junk say they prefer to keep a record, which is fair comment for important messages and information, but never deleting any emails?

It’s not a surprise then, that one in ten Brits experience anxiety, when their email inbox is disorganised. The report does not say if this is the same 10%, but this anxious feeling apparently leads to sleepless nights and around half of 18-34 year olds experiencing feelings of stress.

Microsoft estimates that the average inbox will receive 14600 emails in 2012, driven by the extra newsletters, coupons and deals that we opt in to accept. This type of email, known as Greymail, makes up 80 per cent of the regular inbox and Brits don’t tend to deal with it until after working hours when we have a bit more time to consider promotions and social updates.

Apparently leaving your inbox in a mess can mean around two weeks a year spent cleaning it all up. When your parents trained you to clean your room, it was with good reason, the survey also found that people in the UK spend twice as much time organising their email than they do spending time with family or friends. Sad.

There is hope though, not all UK citizens are slothful, disorganised digital lay-abouts. The research also revealed that email users are split into three different profiles when it comes to managing the influx of messages: filers, pilers and deleters.

Filers are highly organised and stay in control, pilers hold on to emails as digital records and don’t mind the mess and deleters are minimalists who avoid inbox clutter.

As I polish my prefect badge for continually striving for inbox-zero nirvana, you might want to consider a few of the methods for battling your own email junk pile.

Whether you prefer services like RightInBox and FollowUpThen or maybe you can attain the zen like calm with our own Zee’s advice or maybe you like Boris’s rules for filtering it’s clear from this research that many of us need to find a way to get email under control, otherwise you may not be able to play out with your friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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