Emails

I receive too many emails in a day.

I did a one year data analytics experiment, and what I found was shocking.

I peruse 20% of the emails I get, I skim through 40% of them, and I mark 40% as read without opening.

Out of the 20% I peruse, I act on only 10% of them.

In effect, only 10% of all emails require my direct input, 50% are for my info, and 40% are literally spam.

The above data is after politely excluding myself from many email broadcasts. It could have been worse.

I wonder what life would be like if I only got the 10%. I had always felt the 90% serve a purpose, because once in a while they provide something of value in my responses to the 10%.

In reality, it is a productivity hack to keep weeding until you get to the 10% that matters. It is a productivity hack to get emails that need your action, and not emails where you’re only in copy as an ego boost to the sender, or as a habit of how it has always been.

It is going to be a long journey. Luckily, I love long rides.

– Osasu Oviawe

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