It’s time for an honest discussion: Your inbox is probably costing you more than you realize.
4.1 hours.
According to a recent survey, the average professional spends about 4.1 hours managing their inbox each day. If that doesn’t seem like a lot at first, that totals to over 1,000 hours a year. And keep in mind: That’s just the average professional; it doesn’t speak to the countless CEOs and executives who often spend even more time feeling like a slave to their inbox.
And the funny thing is, while many people agree the inbox is their single biggest time and productivity sink, they ultimately do little to change it for two reasons:
- First off, they see hours in the inbox as an unavoidable part of doing business
- Secondly, they don’t realize just how much their inbox is truly costing them.
We’ve already written about how to get more value out of your inbox (while spending less time managing emails), so I won’t rehash that here. Instead, I want to focus on that second point and offer you a 100% transparent look at the true cost of your inbox through our inbox cost calculator. So, without further ado, let’s on the precise dollar amount your emails are costing you each day.
And as a warning: It may come as a painful surprise.
How Much Time and Money Does the Average Employee Spend on Email?
Let’s look at the average Silicon Valley tech employee. With 4 hours spent in email each day and a salary of about $100,000 …
As you can see, through our inbox cost calculator, that comes out to $170.94 each day, or $854.70 a week. Do you think the average person generates $170 worth of value from their inbox each day? Some, sure. But most? Probably not.
And if you have, say, 10 employees in your organization, that’s over $8,000 a week spent solely on email management.
Let me take a moment to clarify: I’m not saying all of that time’s been wasted, or that it can/should be eliminated entirely. Here’s the question I want to challenge you to ask: Although managing an inbox can be productive, is it truly the most productive use of time?
Again: Probably not.
How Much Time and Money Does the Average Executive Spend on Email?
Let’s shift gears and look at an example that may hit a little closer to home: How much money does a Silicon Valley executive sink into their inbox?
Let’s be modest in our assumptions and say they earn a salary of $200,000 and spend just 5 hours a day managing their inbox …
Ouch: That comes out to over $300 a day, or $1600 a week. And, again, you’ve got to ask: Was that truly the most productive way they could spend their time? Probably not. After all: Your inbox needs to be managed, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be managed by you.
Now, it’s your turn: How much is your inbox costing you? Find out with our free inbox cost calculator below, and learn what you can do to take back control.
