About 50 per day. 10-15 that can be acted on in less than 2 minutes. 2-3 that require more attention.

I prefer email becuase I have the information to refer to later and can delegate with a simple forward. Plus people have to condense their thoughts in an email where a hallway conversation can drag on, and on, and on. (Of course, some hallway or lunch conversations are incredibly productive but that’s another topic).

My filing system is simple. All emails go into Action (needs to be acted on but takes more than 2 minutes), Hold (reference), or Timed (reference that will have no value in a few weeks like conference call numbers or meeting agenda). All other are dealt with in 2 minutes or deleted. I treat it like a video game - if the messages reach the bottom of the screen, I lose.

Writing clear, actionable emails and directing them to the right people is a critical skill in our organization. Proper use of the subject line and clear, action oriented statements are critical. Spending years working in an organization where English is not your coworkers’ first language is a great learning experience.