Checking work e-mails outside of office hours is more harmful than you’d think

Taking a quick snoop at those unread messages is taking a huge toll on all of us.

There's nothing worse than coming home from a long, hard day at work and knowing that you still have a massive stack of unread messages to go through. Instead of letting them pile up for the morning, you take a quick swipe through the first few, and then the next, and then you look at your watch and the entire evening is gone. SHITE. Where do the hours go? Researchers from three universities in the US, Colorado State, Virginia Tech, and Lehigh University collaborated on a study which had 385 people take part. The test subjects included people from different professions such as healthcare, finance, banking and technology who were asked about how much time they spent on e-mails outside of their work hours. The researchers also asked about emotional exhaustion, their balance between their work and families and anxiety linked between work and their days off. Results of the study showed that checking e-mails outside work had a negative effect on people's mental health. Employees who were feeling pressurised to be constantly available were found to be at a higher risk of burning out, which would cause the need for them to take days off. It was also found that even just the feat of anticipating e-mails to come can have a serious impact on anxiety and stress levels for employees. So to conclude with the research, when you leave work, turn your computer or phone off. France has passed a law earlier this year that banned checking emails on weekends, and from this study it looks like more countries will follow suit.