Research by experts in psychology, management, and linguistics has been looking into the smartest ways to use email at work, writes Andrew Blackman for The Wall Street Journal.

While most of us tend to reply to an email promptly, it turns out that those companies with quick response times have more stressed out and less productive workers.

According to the research, for most people it is best to turn off email alerts and just check your email every 45 minutes and then take action. It is also recommended to use the “delay send” feature when sending an email after hours, to avoid putting pressure on people to respond immediately.

The best time to send work email is early in the week and early in the day. Between 8 a.m. and noon, most people reply more quickly and with more complete replies.

In addition, it has found that email is useful for negotiating as people can plan what to say. Emoticons can also be helpful, as they can make neutral messages seem more positive. But these should only be used for internal communication.

Read more about smartest ways to use your work email at The Wall Street Journal here.

amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit0”;
amzn_assoc_search_bar = “true”;
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “vistatoday-20”;
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”;
amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”;
amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”;
amzn_assoc_region = “US”;
amzn_assoc_title = “Amazon Email Productivity Picks”;
amzn_assoc_linkid = “33d172e0b9d9a80db7a562b67e765a87”;
amzn_assoc_asins = “096374559X,0996349928,1532881134,1933338156”;