Best time to send email is Sunday 3 pm-6 pm, AI survey found, but experts say otherwise

86 percent of emails sent between 6 pm and 9 pm on the same day were also opened. (Representational image: Pixabay)

To ensure that your emails are read, send emails between 3 pm and 6 pm, an AI-powered survey has found.

Axios HQ, a company that creates "AI-powered software that helps organisations manage their essential communications," analysed the average open rates of 8.7 million emails sent through its platform between January 2022 and March 2023, to find that Sundays between 3 pm and 6 pm are the best time to send emails, Business Insider reported.

The survey found that 94 percent of emails sent during this golden period were opened, while 86 percent of emails sent between 6 pm and 9 pm on the same day were also opened. It stated that this could be partly because on Sundays there are fewer emails in people's inboxes, increasing the chances of it being opened and read.

Employees sending emails "during low-competition times, like Sunday night, can ensure they are top of mind -- and top of inbox -- during your readers' most available hours, like first thing Monday morning," Insider reported Axios HQ as saying.

But, while some professionals may view this as an invitation to show off their work ethic, an expert warned that this could be a form of "techno-invasion," the publication reported.

"There's this phenomenon known as 'techno invasion'. And that's a sense of the work technology creeping into your personal life as well. And we know that's linked to people feeling more stressed, less satisfied with their work and their work-life balance," Dr Matthew Davis, an associate professor at Leeds University Business School, told The Times of London.

"My worry would be if people see this and think 'I'll start sending these more routinely on a weekend'. Because for some people, it's fine... but there is a good proportion of people that this will add to that sense of a burden."