In the context of managing time, do you consider email as a friend or a foe? The amount of time executives use to deal with email is increasing by the minute, as it were. The Daily Telegraph reported a study done by the Radicati Group which threw up some amazing figures. Worldwide email traffic, they say, has reached 196 billion messages a day and is predicted to reach 374 billion messages per day in 2011- which is not very far off.
The researchers found that today’s average employee spends anything from 90 to 120 minutes per day wading through hundreds of messages- many of which are not worth seeing at all.
If used effectively, the email can be a tremendous time saver. If used ineffectively, it can take up disproportionately large chunks of your time. Ultimately, it is your skills that determine whether email is your friend – or foe.
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This is Post No: 179 of the “A Step A Day” series : To provide perspective and provoke thought to facilitate self-development across a wide spectrum of issues- big and small- crucial for executive success
People at Work & Play 
Rightly said sir, e-mail is definitely a friend when used optimally. However, I have observed that e-mail is used excessively as a communication medium. Sometime, a phone call or a walk to the other person can do the work but people still use e-mails. I strongly support No Email Friday policy.
And how one can forget the no use forwards which are sent by our friends(?). I think a lot of bandwidth of Internet is occupied by these “Forwards”.
Thanks for your comment, Sudhir. You are absolutely right. While email is decidedly convenient, it is not the best option for all communication. Many times we are better off walking across and talking to the other person than sending a mail.