Ready for an E-Mail Diet?

July 26, 2007 — -- Ever feel overwhelmed by e-mail? Does the convenience often seem more like a nuisance?

If so, you're not alone, because the average Outlook business user receives 470 e-mails a week and spends 15 hours dealing with them. By 2009, workers will spend 41 percent of their time reading and responding to e-mails, according to market research firm Radicati Group.

To fight back, some companies, led by advertising giant Kaplan Thaler Group, are going on "e-mail diets" to shrink their daily dose of electronic messages. Other executives have declared e-mail bankruptcy, shutting down their inboxes all together.

From high-profile CEOs to musicians, more professionals are saying no to e-mail. According to several reports, techno musician Moby sent a message to his address list announcing his break from e-mail.

Saying he was done with e-mail because of privacy concerns, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine announced in a statement, "We'll go back to the 1920s and have direct conversations with people." A venture capitalist made headlines when he said he was so far behind that wiping the inbox clean was the only option.

For the rest of us not ready to cut the cord just yet, there are some simple tips on how to get e-mail under control.