Email is wonderful but it’s getting out of hand. It’s so easy and fast that we end up hitting the Send button without even thinking - and we get hooked on being in contact. This year, the average corporate user fired off 27 percent more emails than in 2006. Many employees now check email every 90 seconds. How can you ever concentrate, think deeply or even relax in that kind of electronic bombardment? The answer is that you can’t, which is why the corporate world is clamping down. Big firms like Deloitte & Touche, Intel and U.S. Cellular are now imposing limits on how much email staff can send and when they can send it. The idea is to help staff relax and work better, and to encourage slower, more efficient forms of communication in the office, such as getting up off your rear-end and walking across the hall to talk face-to-face to a colleague. The email bans often face early resistance but eventually even the heaviest emailers come round.

The Slow revolution is winning converts in the business world. Just look at the surging market for books explaining how to work better by putting on the brakes. One that caught my eye recently is a work-in-progress by a Swedish entrepreneur and author who is writing a book called Slow Company. He is open to observations and suggestions from anyone. To find out more visit www.slowcompany.com.