Four in ten employees check their email before 6 a.m.
Then they are interrupted roughly every two minutes, 275 times a day.
Microsoft's analysis of signals across its products describes an infinite workday: about 40% of employees check email before 6 a.m., and work is interrupted by a meeting, email or chat roughly every two minutes.
The average employee receives 117 emails and 153 chat messages a day. The Legends who start early tend to spend that first hour on their own work, not on the inbox.
Microsoft Work Trend Index special report, June 2025, based on aggregated Microsoft 365 signals and surveys.