HRGuru

Well, email is how we communicate between offices these days, as well as between departments, team members, etc.  But emails can be managed better than any other form of communication to reduce distraction.  There is very rarely an email that involves a real emergency, so you can always just ignore that little flag until a set time during the day.  If you're in a position to receive multiple emails a day that require your attention and response, you could set aside three times during the day to respond to the emails that you have, or four if more emails are received than you can reasonably respond to in a 20-minute period.  If you have to use four breaks, reduce the time to 15 minutes so that you never spend more than an hour of your day responding.  Keep responses short and to the point, though civil, and be sure not to respond to time-wasters.  That way, maybe they won't bother again.  I do think that interoffice forwards are a real headache, and can best be dealt with using the delete button!  I do consider that emails are easier to manage than those pesky phone calls or someone popping their head into your office door throughout the day, as it leaves you in control of when you'll allow the interruption and for how long.  Besides, how could you ignore a ringing phone or someone's head?

If you consider retreiving and answering emails while on a conference call or at odd hours of the night an ADDICT...count me in!

I used to be so addicted, and opened every single email the second that I saw it pop in and it was very distracting.

Now, I've turned off the alerts that tell me I have a new email, the sound and the little flag that pops up at the bottom of the screen. Then I set up reminders in my calendar to check it three times a day.  I started doing that about a month ago and I can't believe how much it helps me focus on projects and get things done!  And I agree with seabrownthree, most of the time it isn't an emergency anyway and can wait.