Checking Emails
Q. With regard to work emails, how often do you check them in each of the following circumstances?
Regularly |
Sometimes |
Occasion-ally |
Never |
|
Out of work hours |
46% |
18% |
18% |
18% |
On weekends |
44% |
16% |
18% |
22% |
On holidays |
31% |
19% |
22% |
27% |
* Based on the 68% of respondents who receive work emails.
46% say they regularly check their work emails out of hours, 44% on weekends and 31% on holidays.
Those most likely to check their emails regularly out of hours were women (52%) and aged 45-54 (57%). Those earning under $1,000pw (54%) were more likely to check emails out of work hours than those earning over $1,000pw (44%).
However, there were no major differences across demographics on checking work emails on weekends or holidays.
Anxiety about Checking Emails and Social Media
Q. If you can’t check the following every 15 minutes do you get anxious?
Total |
Aged 18-24 |
Aged 25-34 |
|
Text messages |
9% |
18% |
15% |
Mobile phone calls |
8% |
11% |
16% |
Social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) |
6% |
8% |
13% |
Personal e-mail |
7% |
6% |
15% |
Work email |
8% |
6% |
14% |
Voice mail |
4% |
– |
11% |
9% say they get anxious if they can’t check their text messages every 15 minutes and 8% get anxious about mobile phone calls and work emails.
18% of those aged 18-24 get anxious about checking text messages every 15 minutes but are less concerned about social media and emails.
More than one in ten people aged 25-34 get anxious about checking each media every 15 minutes – especially mobile phone calls (16%), text messages (15%) and personal emails (15%).

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