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Should checking emails on the commute count as 'working hours'?

Victoria Dmochowski

Who checks their emails while travelling to and from work? I occasionally check my work calendar to refresh my memory of what's in store for the day but as I walk / scoot / cycle to work, dealing with emails has not become a habit for me.

Checking emails before getting to work can help people get ahead of the day or catch-up with what they missed by the end of it. If this is something your workforce regularly did, would you consider making the commute part of their working hours?

A researcher has said that the boundaries between home and work are being blurred due to improved internet access on trains but commuters say they like to have the time to transition between home and work: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45333270

What do you think? Could it lead to better work-life balance or increased stress and low productivity?

 

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  • The answer is yes to both Victoria. It depends on whether your preference is for Separation or Integration as the work-life balance researchers define the two concepts. Integrators will feel it gives them better balance, Separators may find it stressful.
    More important in my view is the research carried out by my colleagues Gail Kinman and Almuth McDowall last year which revealed that half the workplaces they surveyed had no policy or guidelines on the use of email outside of working hours.
  • in reply to Anna
    Hi Anna

    I had not come across the concept of separation v integration before and it makes a lot of sense - that would be why it's no stress to me to deal with emails on the train and I am slightly flummoxed by the expression work-life balance. Obviously, I know what people mean by it but I don't find it that useful as a way of looking at my life. As I said above, work is not a thing apart from life, it is one of the things in our lives. Likewise, being a member of this forum is another thing in my life and I dip into it during the hours I am in the office. Where someone else would take a smoke break or a tea break, I have refreshing little dips into a debate. As Robey says, my work is about doing what I have to do to get everything done, not being present at a desk for a specified number of hours.

    I have read about Millennials in the workplace being mystified by Boomer managers expecting them to put their phones away until lunchtime. Perhaps they are integrators too?
  • in reply to Elizabeth Divver
    In my experience Elizabeth this is one concept that seems to resonate with people whenever I do a talk about work-life balance. It seems there are more Separators (by preference) out there than we might imagine. Being told about the continuum often gives them 'permission' to separate. Some have told me they feel expected to always integrate which doesn't suit them.

    Both preferences have pluses and minuses - I explain this in a short blog post here: thebalancedleader.wordpress.com/.../

    The important thing is to accept that just because you're an integrator not everyone around you will be - and to not fall into the trap of expecting them to be.
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  • in reply to Elizabeth Divver
    In my experience Elizabeth this is one concept that seems to resonate with people whenever I do a talk about work-life balance. It seems there are more Separators (by preference) out there than we might imagine. Being told about the continuum often gives them 'permission' to separate. Some have told me they feel expected to always integrate which doesn't suit them.

    Both preferences have pluses and minuses - I explain this in a short blog post here: thebalancedleader.wordpress.com/.../

    The important thing is to accept that just because you're an integrator not everyone around you will be - and to not fall into the trap of expecting them to be.
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