I was just reading in USA TODAY that in a movement to tame in-boxes some companies are declaring e-mail-free Fridays.

Today marks the first day that about 150 engineers at Intel will kick off "Zero E-mail Fridays."  While e-mail is not  forbidden, everyone is encouraged to phone or meet face-to-face with the goal of more direct, free-flowing communication and better exchange of ideas.

According to the article, each day about 39.7 billion person-to-person e-mails, 17.1 billion automated alerts, and 40.5 billion pieces of spam are sent worldwide. The average worker receives 140 messages a day.

Even though e-mail is a useful, quick communication tool those who write more e-mails are likely to receive more. It's sad that people can work in the same office but never even talk to each other because they will just send an e-mail rather than walk over to the person. 

I think these e-mail free Fridays sound like a good idea. Just like too much paper can clutter your mind so can too much e-mail. 

What do you think? Are you encouraged to do e-mail free Fridays?