BBC NEWS ONLINE: How to cope with email overload

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"Email overload is causing people to get ill," says Cary Cooper, organisational psychology professor at Manchester University.

His research has found that higher email load is associated with higher workload stress.

"The problem is there aren't good guidelines on what is the best use of email and the things we should not do," he says.

"We cc in everybody rather than just the one or two people we should be interacting with. Line managers should never send emails outside of office hours to their subordinates unless it's absolutely essential.

"There's no point in sending someone an email on a Friday night saying you don't have to deal with this until Monday, because people will then worry about it and do it that weekend."

But he is not saying that email should be eliminated altogether.

"It's a great way to keep in touch with people, particularly who are remote. It's a great way to send data, to send information. By itself it's fine - it's the way people are using it is the problem," says Prof Cooper.