Opening Presents Or Opening Your Inbox?

New research by Lee Hecht Harrison Penna, the global human capital consultancy, reveals 52% of workers will be checking their emails over Christmas. Furthermore, three in 10 say they will be checking emails on Christmas Day itself.

The majority of British workers cite negative reasons for why they clock in on over Christmas. Almost a quarter said they want to lessen their workload upon their return in January and almost the same number said they have work they need to finish. However, on a positive note, one in five said they love their job and enjoy staying in the loop.

On average, those checking emails will spend one hour and 14 minutes in their inbox, however there are regional variations. The five cities spending the longest checking emails over Christmas:

• Manchester: 2 hours and 6 minutes
• Edinburgh: 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Newcastle: 1 hour and 31 minutes
• London: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Leeds: 1 hour and 14 minutes

By contrast women seem more prepared than men to put their foot down when it comes to banning work from turning up uninvited to their festive fun, with 38% of women saying they won’t be checking their work inbox at all compared to 31% of men surveyed.

The team behind the research offers these tips to help you leave work at work:

1. Take a long-term perspective on your to do list - work out which actions will make the biggest impact on getting 2019 off to the right start and prioritise those

2. Create a cut off - be realistic about what you can achieve in 2018. Working at maximum capacity until the final hour is likely to mean you won’t be delivering at your prime, so don’t be afraid to schedule some deadlines in January

3. Make sure you're covered - planning in advance with your team/colleagues to have a rota system for monitoring incoming requests over the holiday period and an emergency contact list means that no one will be left holding the fort and feeling the pull of their inbox

4. Start your stop clock - if you absolutely cannot resist checking in, allow yourself a time slot and stick to it

5. Taking stock - if you can’t stop yourself from thinking about the office over Christmas use the opportunity to be mindful wisely. Take the time to reflect on your career big picture of 2018 and consider how to reframe it for greater success in the year ahead