Does E-mail Actually Make Us More Productive and Organized?

I have always wondered if e-mail actually makes us more productive and organized at work. I am always in offices where I see people checking their e-mail every 5 seconds or so. People hear a little “ding” on their computer and most feel an uncontrollable urge to look. But, only about 1 and 10 messages are actually important so it turns out to be a big waste of time.

So what can you do to be more productive when it comes to email?

1. Make sure you have a junk mail filter
2. Turn off the e-mail chimes
3. Limit yourself to checking once an hour (or at least try to not break you’re your train of thought!)
4. Use precise subject headers in your outgoing emails to everyone and they will hopefully reciprocate (ex: Monthly staff meeting starting at 4:00 pm on 2/8-no need to reply)