Have you ever been on holidays with your boss? More than eight in ten Irish people report being contacted by work while on holidays. According to a study released today by lastminute.com, a phone call or email while on holiday is more stressful than being stuck in traffic or a fight with a partner. The research also revealed that it took a third of Irish people over 4 hours to wind down and get back into holiday mode after being interrupted. For almost one in ten it wiped out an entire day. The study – a combination of lab research and representative surveys with 6,500 Europeans, 500 of them in Ireland – was commissioned in order to explore the impact of not switching off when off. Carried out in conjunction with neuro-psychologist Dr David Lewis it measured the human body’s response to stress triggers in a laboratory environment. The results scientifically prove for the first time the extraordinary levels of stress that are felt when receiving work phone calls, voicemails, emails and text messages when we actually should be relaxing. There's nothing like a call from the office to bring you back down to earth... According to the lab research, receiving a single phone call, email or text message from a work colleague whilst lying on a beach generated a greater level of stress than getting into a verbal fight with a loved one, being stood up on date or being stuck in a traffic jam. Stress levels were only narrowly surpassed by the experience of lost luggage, ranked the highest of all the scenarios measured. Commenting on the results Dr. David Lewis says: “By assessing responses in our nervous systems such as subtle skin moisture levels as well as heart rates we are able to scientifically measure stress. Despite it being a situation that all too many of us have experienced in the past, there is no denying the effect even just a quick text message from the boss can have when we are on holiday. It may not seem like a big deal to the sender but to the recipient the results are dramatic and significantly compounded by being in the relaxed state of mind induced by a good holiday.” The survey also brought to light that the causes of holiday interruptions were deemed to be completely unimportant by almost three in five holidaymakers. Despite this, 70 per cent chose to deal with it rather than ignore it. Being asked about the status of a project (29 percent), where a document was saved (28 percent) or for computer log in details (21 percent) were among the most common reasons. Other more ridiculous reasons included how to turn a computer on, how regularly the office plants needed watering, checking how to file expenses or and where the air conditioning unit was located. The
top 10 reasons why Irish people were contacted by work when away on holiday
are: 1. To ask about the status of a project (29 percent) 2. To ask where a document was saved/ if I could send it through (28 percent) 3. To share work updates with me (23 percent) 4. To ask for some log in details (21 percent) 5. To ask if I could work on something (15 percent) 6. To ask something about my handover (14 percent) 7. To ask if I would be able to attend a meeting when I'm back (13 percent) 8. To share the latest work gossip (9 percent) 9. To ask when I'd be returning (9 percent) 10. To ask if I could read over a document (9 percent)