Checking emails is bad for your health

Checking emails outside of work can raise stress levels and contribute to ill health, according to new research.

Psychologists at the University of Hamburg interviewed 132 employees, asking them a series of questions over an eight-day period. The participants, who were from 13 different workplaces, were asked the same sets of questions for four days they were expected at work and four days they were not.

The psychologists noted that during times when an employee was contactable at work they reported higher levels of stress. Even when staff were not expected to be at the office, but were still physically available, they found a high level of cortisol in their saliva, an indicator of anxiety.

In the study, which was printed in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, the authors cited technology as a main instigator, noting that “job contacts and work availability outside regular business hours are associated with impaired wellbeing.”