4 minutes.

That’s how long The Egan Group, Inc estimates it takes to recover after reading your e-mail. Multiplied by even 30 e-mails a day, that’s two hours of recovery time. CEO Marsha Egan insists e-mail should never be used as an urgent delivery system. Make a call if it’s that important. Additionally, she suggests, “Give everyone in your organization permission to turn off ‘auto receive,’ and instead schedule e-mail deliveries every 90 to 120 minutes.”

 —David Bailey