Fact · Dictation for work and study
17percent of an average workday
In 2024, email took just over 17 percent of an average workday for RescueTime users, which is about 6.8 hours a week at an assumed 8-hour day and 5-day week.
Quote found word for word on the live source, last checked October 19, 2026
In the source's own words
“Despite the rise of messaging apps, email remains a formidable communication tool, consuming just over 17% of an average workday.”
Always online, always behind: the true cost of constant communication, RescueTime, RescueTime blog, 2024, Email Overload section.
Open the original- What it measures
- The figures come from time logged by RescueTime's software on its users' computers. The post does not say how many users were counted, and it gives no length for the average workday.
- What it does not show
- The post states a share of a workday, not hours, so the hours per week are a conversion: 17 percent of an 8-hour day over 5 days is 6.8 hours. Passive software logging counts time at the keyboard and screen, not time spent away from the screen, and cannot separate reading from replying.
In the data
A row of How Much Time People Spend Writing and Typing at Work, as RescueTime 2024, email: 6.8 hours per week.
- Activity
- Who
- RescueTime users
- How measured
- Logged by software
- Year
- 2024
- Note
- 17 percent of an average workday is 1.36 hours per 8-hour day, and 1.36 times 5 workdays is 6.8 hours per week. The source states no hours per day, so 8 hours and 5 workdays are assumed.
Source
Used to calculate
- In the time spent writing, typing and on email dataset, the 7 published figures for “Email” have a median of 8.8 hours per week, ranging from 0.2 to 15.
- The time spent writing, typing and on email dataset holds 16 data points, each a published figure traced to its source.
- The time spent writing, typing and on email dataset draws on 9 distinct sources.