Some days I get over a hundred emails. Often, 90% of those are a waste of my time, and that is after excluding junk mail and related marketing mumbo-jumbo. Why so much email fluff, not-quite-spam-spam? It’s because people don’t consider the human cost of sending an email.

The Email Cost Algorithm

To understand the productivity cost of an email, we need to consider the factors that go in to an email, and how they correlate to time.

First, some facts and assumptions regarding email reading speed.

All emails are intended to be read by all recipients.
The average American can read and comprehend at a rate between 250 and 400 words per minute.
People read about 25% slower on a computer screen than on paper.
We will assume the typical email reading speed is 250 words per minute.

Second, some facts and assumptions about email writing speed.

Every . . .

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