Brits can’t switch off: 40% check work emails at Christmas

Research shows that two in five UK workers are likely to have checked their work emails over the Christmas period, when they should be on annual leave.  

The findings from Natwest and with job burnout at an all-time high, Instant Offices has delved into why we can’t seem to resist the temptation of checking in on work and how we can make sure we’re fully checked out, when it comes to taking time off during the Christmas season.  

The constant need to feel connected to our work is nothing new, but it could be that this pressure is self-imposed. In the UK, 8 in 10 people say their managers wouldn’t expect them to check their emails on annual leave, so do we need to be reminded to unplug and switch off? 

Tips on How to unplug from Instant Offices:    

• Set yourself a digital detox challenge: Online searches for ‘digital detox’ are up 10% since last year, with countries like Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK leading the way for searches. Set yourself a detox challenge or ‘holiday’ during the festive season. This could mean simply staying off any work-related apps or coming off social media completely for a set amount of time. Apps like Flipd can help you lock social channels and chats for a specified period, so you can resist the urge to start scrolling. 
• Turn off notifications: Notifications can have a bigger impact on us than we might know. In fact, Research links constant interruptions from Smartphone notifications with depression and severe anxiety. Disable work notifications while on leave. Whether that means deleting Zoom or Microsoft Teams from your personal phone, or muting all your channels on your work laptop, make sure you do it before your leave begins, so you can focus on spending time with your loved ones. 
• Plan in advance: Before taking leave, ensure your out-of-office is sorted and your handover has been done.Managing expectations internally and externally will help to reduce any feelings of stress during your time off. It can also help to write a to-do list for when you return to work, so you know exactly what you’re coming back to and you’re able to fully switch off during the holidays.  

The problem of presenteeism and leaveism   

It’s not just taking annual leave properly we have a problem with, when Instant Offices looked into presenteeism and sickness, they found 75% of managers admit to actively asking people to take time off when sick, and 45% of leaders say they now stay off to role model the behaviour.   

‘Leaveism’ was also investigated – the act of taking annual leave simply to catch up on work. A huge 67% of organisations observed leaveism in 2022, with employees working on holiday and outside of contracted hours to handle workloads.  

Although the research found that more managers are being given training to combat the issues surrounding presenteeism and leaveism, more can be done by organisations and individuals to ensure we get the proper rest we need.  

With more hybrid and home working available than ever before, there are many positives to having more flexibility at the office. Still, it’s essential to maintain a work-life balance strictly to make it sustainable.