FYI: Checking Your Work Emails Out-Of-Hours Could Be Bad For Your Health

Earlier this year, France made headlines the world over with the news of the government passing a law that allowed employees to switch off their work emails upon leaving the office for the day. 

 

Naturally, we in the rest of the world wished those same rules applied to us, and now a study has shown that we should probably take some direction from our French counterparts. 

 

Three US professors surveyed 385 professionals in America, across a wide variety of sectors, and quizzed them on how they felt about having to always be available. The results? The demands of being constantly being available caused anxiety in many of the participants, which in turn affected their general wellbeing.

 

“Email is notoriously known to be the impediment to the recovery process,” the professors wrote in their findings. “Its accessibility contributes to the experience of work overload since it allows employees to engage in work as if they never left the workspace, and at the same time, inhibits their ability to psychologically detach from work-related issues via continuous connectivity.”

 

Whilst it may not be possible for you to disconnect completely, the researches advise finding a way to get in some me-time to help keep a balance between work and your personal life. So pick up a book, take a bath, go for a walk or simply watch some TV when you get home tonight – your mind, body and soul will thank you for it.