Get the Feeling No One is Reading Your Emails? You May Be Right

Credit: Peshkova/Shutterstock

Do you ever get the feeling that no one is reading your emails? You may be right, especially if you tend to send a lot of information at once.

Finding a lengthy email in your inbox can be frustrating, and if your email is too long, it could be getting lost in the shuffle — or worse, the trash folder. In fact, the shorter your note is, the better. Nineteen percent of people won't fully read an email that's longer than one paragraph, according to a study by mobile business email app MailTime. And the longer your email is, the less likely others are to pay attention.

Fifty-one percent of people won't fully read an email longer than two paragraphs, 76 percent of people won't fully read an email longer than three paragraphs, and 84 percent of people won't fully read an email longer than four paragraphs, according to the survey.

And if your email exceeds seven paragraphs, only 10 percent of recipients will actually read the entire thing.

Want to make sure you stop annoying your co-workers and get your emails noticed? Keep them short and sweet (81 percent of those surveyed disapproved of emails that are too long), and avoid these other top email mistakes:

• Emails that are "insensitive" in tone (93 percent of those surveyed disapproved)
• Emails that are not personally addressed to you (88 percent disapproved)
• Emails that have numerous replies (87 percent disapproved)
• Emails that have numerous recipients (82 percent disapproved)

MailTime's study surveyed a sample of 1,000 working adults.