More than one in three Belgians checks their emails or even takes calls while officially out of office. A new study explains how this can help you relax and when you should start to worry.
European politicians are not the only ones interrupting their holidays from time to time to get some work done.
More than every third Belgian (37%), too, swaps their leisure read for work-related content.
“Young people in particular have difficulty disconnecting,” says professor Anja Van den Broeck, who works at the Belgian KU Leuven university and researches motivation. She oversaw a survey that questioned 2,000 Belgians on their holiday habits.
About half of the respondents under the age of 35 said they think about work during their holidays, and nearly as many (44%) reported checking emails or taking business phone calls.
Engagement with work decreases with age: only about a third of people over 55 think about work during their time off, and even fewer (27%) actually do some work.
Keeping track of work while holidaying seems stressful at first glance, but it may help people relax, said Van den Broeck. “Just checking in with work every now and again gives them the feeling that they know what they’ll be doing when they go back.”
The survey data shows that this behaviour often goes hand in hand with higher job satisfaction. It has become normal for employees to deal with personal matters during working hours and vice versa, she explained.
However, half of the surveyed employees do not have a backup at work at all, the study found. “Of course, it’s very stressful if you always have to be on call in your leisure time because there’s no one to take over your duties,” she told Euractiv.
But thinking about work – or actually doing some – may not necessarily hinder the ability to recover and relax, as the quality of a holiday depends on many factors.
“Recharging does not necessarily mean doing nothing for weeks. To detach from work and everyday life, it helps to do something exciting, like learning a new skill or visiting a new place,” Van den Broeck explained, adding that sometimes a few days off are enough to recharge.
You should be worried, however, if you cannot detach at all – even when there is no objective workload, the motivation expert warned.
“If there is an inner voice, a compulsion, that makes you want to work, you might be a workaholic and should consider seeing a doctor or developing other interests outside work,” she said.
(vib)
