How Often Do You Check Your Email? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Last week we asked you what do you do with your old phone once you upgrade to a new one. I’m proud to report that most of those who voted don’t throw their old phone away, but either give it away, sell it, or just keep it around the house.

Out of 372 readers who voted, 37% have their old phones lying around the house, 25% give their old phone to a family member or a friend, 11% use their old phones for other projects, 8% donate them to an organization, and 1% throw them away. 18% voted for the “other” option, and judging from the comment, most of those sell their phone – an option which should have been included in the poll, as many readers pointed out.

Full results and this week’s poll after the jump.

Don’t forget to read the poll’s best comment by Carolyn Fitzpatrick, who won 150 reward points for her contribution!

poll-results-oct-13

This week’s poll question is: How Often Do You Check Your Email?

Want to make some extra MakeUseOf reward points? The most useful comment on the poll will be awarded 150 points!

I came up with this question after noticing a significant difference between myself and people around me. Namely, most people who own a smartphone get into the habit of checking their email all the time, no matter where they are or what they’re doing. On the other hand, there are those (like me, for example) who only check their email when seated in front of the computer. Some, naturally, are somewhere in the middle. Do you have to check your email all the time, or are you content with letting things wait?

Share your email experiences in the comments. Do you find that people expect you to check your email more often than you’d like? What are the pros and cons of checking email often? Or only on the computer? Share your thoughts below.


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Yaara Lancet

Yaara (@ylancet) is a freelance writer, tech blogger and chocolate lover, who's also a biologist and a full-time geek. Find her also at lnct.org.

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Hide 51 Comments

  • nikhil agarwal October 14, 2012
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    Whenever I sit in front of a computer I open the mail client and let it run as long as I am connected to internet or not watching movies or playing games.

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  • Meidimi Hugo Sokoto October 14, 2012
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    When I’m on the computer its normal to have my mail window open and on my android phone I have instant notifications on my priority mail.

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  • Jack LaPedis October 14, 2012
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    My e-mail checks me (all the time).

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  • Mathew Mayne October 14, 2012
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    I check my e-mails whenever I get a notification on my phone.

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  • Roman Vávra October 14, 2012
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    Its madness, but when its a chance, I check emails on PC and mobile – Always! Yeah, it depends sometime on a situation, but always!

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  • Elijah Love October 14, 2012
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    I have Gmail open in a pinned tab in Chrome and desktop notifications enabled. My phone gets push notifications always when I’m on a wifi network, and when I have mobile data enabled when I’m out and about.

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  • Kamil Ko October 14, 2012
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    I use Webmail Notifier on Firefox & a similar extension in Chrome. I also see every e-mail via Digsby – before Digsby started acting up :(

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  • Carolyn Fitzpatrick October 14, 2012
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    My work email is Outlook, and during my work hours I’m signed into it constantly, and get little popups when new mail arrives, though not the little chime – I turned that off. About once every hour or two I pull up my Firefox home page, which is igoogle. From there I check my rss feeds, personal emails, calendar, Facebook updates, and to-do list (Remember the Milk) all in one place. Note to Google – I do not use igoogle to go TO these other sites. The updates on these sites have been sent to my igoogle page and I can see all of them simultaneously. I can also delete my unimportant emails, cross things off my Remember the Milk to do list, and bookmark any rss articles for later, all without leaving my home page. The whole process takes about five minutes, then I go back to work. I hate you, Google, for getting rid of igoogle effective in Nov 2013. Hate. You.

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    • Jayni October 15, 2012
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      I agree, Carolyn. What are we going to DO without IGoogle??? SURELY someone will come to our rescue!

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  • Greg October 14, 2012
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    My Gmail is pinned so it’s always there

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  • cwsnyder October 14, 2012
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    1) I only have my computer and/or mobile device powered up for 2-3 hours a day.
    2) I check my email and social media once during that session (or not), although I have 4 email accounts, I use only the web interface because I may be on tablet or desktop.

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  • Keegan October 14, 2012
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    Now with push notification on smart phones I don’t think “checking” my email is the right word for me

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    • Corey October 15, 2012
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      With a small volume of email I would agree. But when you get hundreds of somewhat important emails a day, push notification for ALL mail is more of a hinderance.

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  • Celeste October 14, 2012
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    I check it regular more than once a day. IF I see something that I want to open I willopen an email otherwise I just delete

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  • Quentin October 14, 2012
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    During the week, I check my emails at least once a day (usually in the evening)
    At weekends, it depends if I get a chance of laying my hands on my computer…

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  • D. K.0 October 14, 2012
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    When I’m on the computer I open the mail client and let it run in the background and check moste of the mails when they receive.
    On the mobile I only check mails when I’m waiting for a particular mail, so I don’t use push mail on my mobile phone.

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  • Navjot Singh October 14, 2012
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    My Gmail tab is always open on my browser. And on my mobile, I check as soon as I get notified of a new mail.

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  • Edwin Williams October 14, 2012
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    I have my tablet and smart phone set to receive email notifications throughout the day. It’s really helpful when you’re able to stay connected and in-touch throughout.

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  • Abdelkader Hadjaissa October 14, 2012
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    i check it whenever i get a notification

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  • Dude Mesiter October 14, 2012
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    I probably check my email at least 25 times a day haha and I usually only have new emails in the morning, not throughout the day.

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  • Igor Rizvi? October 14, 2012
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    Regulary : 5-7 times a day if Im infront of my computer:)

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  • Paveliuc Bogdan October 14, 2012
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    Don’t have to… android notifications shows it to me. I know what it’s about so i don’t really check it. from time to time i clean it up but that’s about it.

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  • Joel Lee October 14, 2012
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    Since I use Postbox, I just have it set to open when Windows boots up and then I just keep it open all day long. When I get an email, a notification pops, I check it, done. So fast, so easy, though it can be bothersome if I’m trying to do a distraction-free activity (like writing).

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  • Zhong Jiang October 15, 2012
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    During particular events such as an imminent arrival of a mail, I’ll check my email every ten minutes due to some issues of sending automatically. But every other week, I would check twice in one day. There should be no need to be proactive than this since messages usually sent between two intervals of time: morning/evening.

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  • Steven Lam October 15, 2012
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    I check mail all the time either with my ipad, blackberry or notebook but i only answering them when it is appropriate. If it is really important and time sensitive, I reply right the way. If it is an important email but not time sensitive, I will acknowledge and give the sender a time frame I will reply in full. Of course, there are time that it is in-appropriate to answer ANY email (as when I’m in church). I turn off all my devices. All my devices are muted or put on low volume so it won’t wake me up. I don’t stressed out from any electronic messaging.

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  • Sanjay Rajvanshi October 15, 2012
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    the best is to activate notification of coming emails which are part of most of email services. that way it keeps you tidy and up to date.

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  • Niraj October 15, 2012
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    Check out http://launch.inboxwhiz.com – it’d let you schedule when new emails appear in your inbox.

    The prime reason we feel overloaded with email is because we just can’t kick the bad habit of checking our inboxes too often. More here: blog.grexit.com/your-email-overload-is-due-to-your-email-ocd/

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  • Nikhil Chandak October 15, 2012
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    I check , regularly when i’m on computer
    I dont want to miss out the amazing email from the websites like – MakeUseOf

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  • Nikhil Chandak October 15, 2012
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    As much as possible
    I check my emails

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  • Raj Sarkar October 15, 2012
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    Everyday.

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  • Matjaz Mirt October 15, 2012
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    I’m in front of my computer almost all the time ;) . And my android phone take’s care of it when I’m not.

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  • Paresh October 15, 2012
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    Sometime if possible because here is very hard to check the email.

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  • Alan Wade October 15, 2012
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    I have an email notifier (Mailbell) which checks my email accounts every five minutes. As I never turn off my computer it is constantly checked and continually notifiying me of any new mail. All of my accounts are accessed through my Postbox email client so I dont have to mess about with web clients.

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  • Anabel f.m. October 15, 2012
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    When I open the computer, the mail client is running. I can check it each hour. The phone only from time to time, let me live real life!

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  • Adrian Rea October 15, 2012
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    I used to have it on in a window all the time to see as soon as a new mail came in but I was easily distracted by it so I have learnt to check it periodicall. Trouble is I do miss somethings but my attention is better

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  • ZoNi October 15, 2012
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    Regularly, when I’m in front of my computer.

    I use e-mail checker for that (Pop Peeper), which is in my startup folder.

    I check e-mail on my phone only when I really need to do that (maximum once per month).

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  • Sushil Kathpalia October 15, 2012
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    I regularly check email in 4 times in a day like morning, afternoon, evening and when i go for a sleep to check is there any good news for me…But sometimes I check the email after every 30 minutes in some special promotion of my blog..

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  • Mila Kun October 15, 2012
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    I think nowadays most people check their mail inboxes on a daily basis, though I’ve known certain people who aren’t so obsessive with their mails as I am, and I can’t help but feel amazed about how laid-back they are :P
    I check my mail everytime I can throughout the day. If I don’t have my computer with me, I use my mobile, but usually it’s not the case. My browser of choice is Chrome, and so I have installed a RSS Feed Reader extension and connected all my gmail inboxes with the reader, so that everytime I have a new mail, it pops up a little window letting me know. Honestly, I havent been able to find the perfect mail reader extension for Chrome yet, so that’s why I had to come up with something like this so that I don’t have to actually open the gmail page just to check (and I don’t like email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird).

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  • Anandu B Ajith October 15, 2012
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    When I Oped My Computer I Open Postbox And Check Email

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  • Bob October 15, 2012
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    I check my email with Mozilla Thunderbird when I go on line. I lave my email app minimized while I’m on line and monitor what email comes in through the AVG email notifier on the task bar. Then I can choose to answer immediately or not. Before shutting down I delete unwanted email and read the remainder.

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  • Joe Ego October 15, 2012
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    I work like Carolyn Fitzpatrick (above). My email (Outlook) is my task list and all mail is also pushed to my SGIII.

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  • Jayni October 15, 2012
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    Don’t everyone cringe, but here are the true facts:

    1. I am almost always at home.

    2. I am at my desktop computer a ridiculous number of hours per day. While there, I check my e-mail AT LEAST every 10 minutes. SOME say I am obsessive.

    3. I GOT RID OF MY SMARTPHONE and don’t plan to get another one.

    4. I got something that I believe is classified a “senior phone.” (Since I am 68 years old, it’s no inappropriate!) It is called a SnapFon, It allows incoming and outgoing calls and text messages. It is VERY simple to operate, AND it even has a LOCKING keyboard, which prevents me calling people with my A$$. I have a very nice digital camera and I KNOW where its pictures go. When I took photos with my Smartphone, I was mystified as to where they went.

    5. I know–I’m old and used up, and hopelessly untechie–and I don’t even MIND being this way!

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  • Paul Daury October 15, 2012
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    I used to have notifications setup on my Android phone. I found that it created too much stress as I always felt compelled to react to all of the requests for my help right away. This resulted in a major bout with clinical depression from which I am currently recovering. I now chech several times a day on my phone and only react to the urgent stuff. At my work computer I have Outlook open at all times. At home, not so much.

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  • Daniel Windholz October 15, 2012
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    I use email only on my notebook, with Outlook 2010, and it checks automatically every 30 minutes. I do not check emails on my mobile. I do have 4 email accounts, besides gmail required for contacts and calendar on my mobile sync with Outlook on my notebook. One for family, one for news, info, vendors, one for local business, and one for international business. And they all come into the same inbox of Outlook.

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  • apoorv gupta October 16, 2012
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    I am so addicted to my email that whenever i open my internet , the first thin that i do is opening my email and checking if any new mail has come..:)

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  • Myst Gunn October 16, 2012
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    If I’m at work, I regularly check my email(given by the company where i worked). However, when I’m at home, I only check it once.

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  • Michael Shinkawa October 17, 2012
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    I check my emails whenever I am on the computer and I get notifications on my Android phone.

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  • Bishal Mahat October 17, 2012
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    When i open my computer at first i open my mail and check if there is any thing new going on and if there isn’t any thing going on then i will keep it open and use other things

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  • Dominic Chang October 18, 2012
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    I let thunderbird do the checking for me. It downloads the mail and when I’m free I just browse through it then.

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  • Eath Chantrea October 23, 2012
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    Email is most time consuming thing.

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  • Daniel Antonov February 19, 2013
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    I love Windows 8′s mail app because it’s always running and suggesting to check the mail whenever I go to start screen

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