One in five workers check emails before getting out of bed

A fifth of the UK workforce admit to checking their emails before they even get out of bed in the mornings, according to outdoor eco-office experts TG Escapes.

TG Escapes recently ran a national poll of 1,000 adults to see how many of us are guilty of the above, and found that 18.5% responded yes, while 47.2% may wait until their commute, but will check emails before even getting to work. Nearly half of these were in the 18–34 age group, while those who were content to leave emails until they got into the office were in the minority at 18.8%, the majority of whom fell into the 45–65 age range.

There was once a time when the average British worker would do anything to put off that harsh moment when he or she had to leave the cosy comfort of their bed and start getting ready for the commute into the office. There, they knew, a pile of work awaited them, emails needed to be answered, and that coffee wasn’t going to make itself.

Since then, technology has intervened, and with many of us using a smartphone, laptop or tablet computer, we can be online almost constantly. This means that anyone keen to get started on the working day can access their work emails before they leave the house – or even their bed. While there are a few who see this technology as a valuable tool for creating some ‘me time’ on a train or bus commute, to catch up on reading, listen to music and podcasts or watch films, others are already doing unpaid overtime before they have even arrived at the office.

Richard Harvey, Managing Director at TG Escapes said: “These advances in technology and our ability to keep in touch with the office from our homes mean that, theoretically, most of us could save ourselves the commute and just work from home.”