Is your work a never ending saga especially when your work day doesn’t end even after you leave office? No matter if it is a week day or a week end, when at home or on vacation, employees are promptly available through work email accounts and phone calls to attend to their commitments. Then where is the work life balance that we all brag about?

Having secure access to corporate emails through mobile apps is a ‘must have’ to most employers. For employees this can help assure prompt response to clients, increase flexibility in when and where they can work and helps them stay competitive as well. But how does that effect the work life balance of employees is still a question that I leave to you.

I most definitely must tell you about a survey conducted by Good Technology that says it all.

With the help of OnePoll, Good Technology, which is a provider of secure email servers and other mobile technology systems, surveyed 1,000 current professionals and found workers put in 365 hours Overtime per year, just answering emails and calls.

The study also revealed:

• 68 percent of people check their work emails before 8 a.m.
• The average American first checks their phone around 7:09 a.m.
• 50 percent check their work email while still in bed
• The work day is growing – 40 percent still do work email after 10 p.m.
• 69 percent will not go to sleep without checking their work email
• 57 percent check work emails on family outings
• 38 percent routinely check work emails while at the dinner table.

For a few employees this is a routine so as to stay organized for work but for others it fulfills the ongoing demands from clients.

Here is a thought for the workforce – Accessibility to work emails should be used based on necessity. But in fact many of us subconsciously are kind of addicted to checking our emails every now and then. If you are on the verge of finishing a critical task or for fulfilling a commitment, then that is ok. But what if it is due to the lack of personal interests outside of your work? We have seen people stay late at work not because that they enjoy being there for long hours but they don’t have anything to do beyond their work. And at some point they realize the hardest part of attaining work life balance is to at times let go of work. Come on, there is lot more to do outside your work life. Have a taste of it and you will find it refreshing.

If you have a family gathering to attend, going for a vacation or have personal responsibilities to deal with, this accessibility helps give you the freedom and choice to work from wherever and whenever you want to. Use that freedom and choice appropriately and it should not be counterproductive at any point.