Overflowing inboxes are a real problem, with the average office worker spending a quarter of his or her day on email-related tasks. If you want to minimize how much time is sucked away by email, follow the Asian Efficiency blog's recommendation to end the "Email Boomerang Effect."


The Email Boomerang Effect happens when you send out an email and you get an email back. Forward a useful article and a thank you comes back. Boomerang. CC people who might need access to a report and several replies come back. Boomerang.

To reverse the email spiral, before you send any email, ask yourself two questions:

Is this email absolutely necessary? Is email the best medium?

Asian Efficiency offers a bunch of examples and details. While the two-question strategy is easy to understand, implementing it can take some work and thought. Here's a flowchart from OnlineITDegree.net to help you decide if an email is worth sending (click to expand, right-click to save):


The Email Boomerang Effect (One Simple Trick to Reduce Email Overload) | Asian Efficiency