August 7, 2017

Holidays and email – what’s going on?

I have been trying to find out how many people have a holiday in which they remain out of contact with their office. In which, in short, they resist checking their email.

Back in 2015 The Daily Mail reported that one in three of us check our work email every day when we are on holiday. As that article highlights, this may be entirely voluntary.  As in: some of us get so bored on holiday that work emails represent a welcome break.

What’s interesting is that Google did not throw up any articles or studies on this subject fresher than that 2015 article. I suspect this means that the subject is no longer news-worthy.  In other words, it has now become entirely normal to read emails from work, when on holiday.

I am about to go away myself, so I will try watching myself to see what the triggers are.  Will a moment of boredom send me rushing back to the Black Rain pouring into my In Box?  Will fear of the huge volume of un-read mails lead me to read a few now, if only to get ahead on the deleting task (which can be pretty huge)?  Or will I have a good reason to check in?  Whatever that may be.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on this, people. Confess below – thanks !