EMAIL压力成为办公室新威胁

A survey from two Scottish universities has revealed that email stress is the new workers’ menace.

Research by the universities of Paisley and Glasgow found that a deluge of messages every day is causing ‘email stress’ thanks to an unending stream of emails at work.

And revealingly, the survey found that people check their emails far more often than they admit to - leading to increased levels of stress.

The fascinating study was undertaken by a team from the two universities made up of computer scientist Karen Renaud of the University of Glasgow and psychologist Judith Ramsay and statistician Mario Hair both from Paisley.

They surveyed mainly academics and those in creative jobs to discover how they managed their emails.

Half of the 177 people surveyed claimed they looked at their emails more than once an hour, with 35 per cent claiming to have a look every 15 minutes. Yet a parallel investigation carried out using monitoring equipment attached to user’s computers found that people actually checked their emails far more frequently, more like every five minutes.

One of the team Mario Hair said: “One of the major findings of our work is that people check their emails far more frequently than they claim to. They probably don’t realise they are doing it, and that it is a distraction from the other tasks they are performing in the process of doing their job.

“Email is a wonderful tool and while we can’t do without it, it has developed into something which can be seen in a new light - that of a considerable office distraction.”

The study also found that a third (34 per cent) felt ‘stressed’ by the sheer volume of emails endlessly received and the perceived obligation to respond quickly to them.

Another 28 per cent said the pressure of receiving emails made them feel ‘driven’. The remaining 38 per cent classed themselves as ‘relaxed’ as they did not feel the need to reply to an email until a day or maybe even a week later.

The survey also found that women felt under more pressure than men to respond to emails.

The researchers suggest that people receiving emails should avoid constantly monitoring them since this has a negative affect on other work activities and instead should set aside specific times for catching up on them. Companies should also consider drawing up specific protocols for the use of emails.

The researchers are now in the process of applying for funding to undertake a more extensive three stage research project. The first stage would be an investigation of email use within a large organisation in order to better understand the factors, both work related and personality based, associated with email related stress. The second stage would be to use these findings to develop new email software which reduces stress and facilitates better management practices. The final stage would be an evaluation of the new software in a work place setting.