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Feeling too guilty to be off duty?

By Carl Jones

It’s just gone 9pm. The soaps have finished, the washing up’s done, the dog has been walked, and you’ve put the bins out.

And then, just as you’re about to settle into your favourite armchair with a cup of cocoa or glass of something stronger, you hear that sharp, shrill sound which has become the modern-day scourge of relaxation.

“Bing”. Someone has sent something through to your mobile device. A text? An email? A voicemail? Who knows . . . but can you afford not to check?

Usually, your curiosity will get the better of you, and before you know it, you’re immersed back into the world of work, mopping up a non-urgent email which could easily have waited until the morning.

But that’s not always the point, is it? It’s the fear of not being seen to be on duty, on the ball, and available for your employer at the drop of the hat.

And according to a growing number of commentators, it is creating a corporate burn-out epidemic, as we lose sight of the importance of a sensible work-life balance.

Can you relate to any of this? It’s that toxic mixture of guilt, curiosity, and determination to stay ahead of the game, and look like you’re totally committed to doing the best job you can.

Kay Heald, who runs a successful HR consultancy based near Telford, and is also joint leader of Network with Style, a Shropshire-based women’s networking group, commissioned her daughter to make a short video raising awareness of the phenomenon called ‘device addiction’.

She wanted to find an interesting way of highlighting some of the problems created by the long working hour cultures that she says a growing number of her clients seem to be struggling against. 

“I didn’t want to ‘tell off’ my clients or write them nagging emails, but find a way of engaging with them, so that I could talk more openly about how they could help themselves and their staff to find more productive and healthy ways of working with technology,” she explains.

Kay, who describes herself as a ‘slightly-reluctant-technology-follower’, says a long hours work culture is now well established in many small businesses

“The way we communicate and ‘stay connected’ has been blurring the lines between work, rest and play," she says.

“Unfortunately, a long hours work culture and ‘anytime’ working can be exacerbated by the wider societal problem of FOMO (fear of missing out) and FOBO (fear of being off-line).

“Social, peer and personal pressures can make ‘switching off’ from work and devices even harder.

“Although employers can’t dictate an individual’s use of their own devices outside work, they can help empower them to take responsibility for their own actions whilst working.

“When used well, information and communication technology aids flexible working and can contribute to a healthier work-life balance.

“However, research is now showing that technology is making many people actually work longer hours. This has been described as a contributor to the ‘dark side’ of flexible working.”

The latest Chartered Management Institute survey of UK managers found 77 per cent working at least an additional hour each day.

Up to 10 per centof managers admitted to putting in more than three extra hours a day and 61 per centof those interviewed blamed their increases on technology.

The CMI study also reported a link between managers working longer hours and them suffering from increased headaches, irritability, insomnia and early symptoms of mental health problems.

There is also an unwritten expectation that staff will be prepared to return calls and texts from their employers during scheduled holidays – because they are afraid of what bosses might think of them if they don’t.

The average employee sends or receives more than 130 emails every day, and that figure is only forecast to rise.

Kay says: “People’s access to too much information, or cognitive overload, is also widely known to impair the ability to think clearly, learn new things and make decisions.

“Britain is known for its long hours work culture, but our productivity levels remain well below that of other G7 countries - nearly 20 per centlower, according to the Office of National Statistics.

“If a long hours work culture is not good for the health and wellbeing of workers and it’s not contributing to increased productivity levels of businesses, owner managers need to take action now to break bad habits and introduce smarter and more effective ways of working.”

Kay, who has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and management development, says it's vital that Shropshire companies set clear boundaries and codes of conduct regarding communication, for the sake of both parties.

Make guidelines explicit and clearly define acceptable and unacceptable in-work and out-of-work communication – such as reasonable time periods for responding to emails

Ensure managers, staff, workers and sub-contractors are made aware of company rules and how they can make complaints if rules are broken.

“And lead by example - make sure that senior managers abide by the rules both for themselves and those they manage.”

Maura Thomas, an award-winning productivity speaker, and author, doesn’t mince her words.

She says one absent-minded glance at your inbox can quickly turn a relaxing evening into a few more hours of work or worry. “I’ve seen over the past decade how after-hours emails speed up corporate cultures . . . and that, in turn, chips away at creativity, innovation, and true productivity.”

Still need more convincing? The National Sleep Foundation says: “Reading a work email at 9:30 p.m. can keep you up with stress; the blue light from the screen mimics daylight and stimulates you; and you can wake up feeling tired, anxious, and depressed.” 

And researchers from the acclaimed Harvard Business School say the light exposure from smartphones, specifically blue light, prevents sleep because it suppresses the sleep-inducing chemical, melatonin.

So that late-night inbox cleanout may feel like a head-start for the following morning, but all the evidence points to the fact that it causing more harm than good.

Next time you feel pressure to send or read a few more emails before crawling into bed, or while you’re out with family and friends, stand firm and hold off. You may find it incredibly liberating.

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