Stop it! You're working an extra unpaid day a week

[FarCenter]

It's wonderful to be able to work from anywhere and at any time. However, for many employees, that means working from everywhere all the time. You're tethered to your job, able to see the latest emails and status updates -- and you're expected to act on them. If you work at a national or global company, a workday that can circle the clock, and a recent survey by mobile management provider Good Technology shows that's what people are doing.

In fact, they're working on average seven more hours per week -- unpaid, of course. That means they're working six days a week but paid for five.

The survey's key findings:
■ 80 percent of people continue working when they've left the office, for an average of seven extra hours each week
■ 60 percent do it to stay organized, half because customers want quick responses, and 31 percent just find it hard to switch off at night
■ 68 percent of people check work email before 8 a.m., with an average first look at 7:09 a.m.
■ 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 workday is growing: 40 percent 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

http://www.infoworld.com/d/consumerization-of-it/stop-it-youre-working-extra-unpaid-day-week-196870

[joeglow3]

1. And this why I don't have a smart phone.

[dionysus]

2. i like smartphones but i'd never hook my work email account into it...

[dakota_democrat]

13. I have my work e-mail on my personal phone, and am expected to be fully accessible due to my job.

That being said, I only respond to e-mails from my boss or direct reports when outside of work hours. Everything else gets read and flagged for later, or I just ignore until the next work day. I was worried that I'd let it eat my free time, but I've been pretty diligent on making sure that I don't spend all night, every night on it.

[teewrex]

3. Same here. When I leave the office, I am done for the day and don't start

until I get back in. I don't get paid enough to dedicate more than 40 hours per week.

[KurtNYC]

4. the inverse of this is that while at work many people take care of non-work biz

and for the same basic reason -- cell phones and internet. It is called "reverse tele-commuting"

[FarCenter]

9. And at least some of this is also due to actual telecommuting

The "8 to 5" workday was really "6:30 to 6:30" when you add in the commute.

Telecommuters can often intersperse personal tasks with working.

[Phentex]

12. And some of it is due to Facebook...

and shopping online and checking your kid's grades and checking your bank balance....etc. Sure, these can take only a few minutes but they all add up to time you are not actually working. As you can tell, I have not gone to the office yet!

[hobbit709]

5. When I had a regular job as soon as I was out the door that was it.

Want me to work longer-pay me
Want me do do stuff from home after hours-pay me
Any work email can wait until I'm back at work.

[Chan790]

6. I'm self-employed.

I do all of those...but I also have the option of taking a 2 hour lunch or going for a jog midday or watching TV. My job is an intrinsic 24/7/365 part of my life but working to live and not living to work is part of my job.

[frazzled]

11. Same here

Though my projects are most always ultra deadline-based, so often I am working 16-hour days to meet the squeeze (I'm stuck between people getting materials to me late, or in horrible shape, and the deadline that looms for publication on the other end). I also never get paid for all the hours I put in ... never. Either because it's a set fee, and the project becomes much more time-consuming than anticipated, or because I can't charge for all the hours I count as "anal compulsive."

So there are benefits and negatives about being self-employed. You've got freedom, but a steady salary for just showing up would be far more lucrative to me. I'd actually get paid for the work I do and have regular hours to boot (not be at my computer at 7 am and 11 pm). I like freedom, however.

[progressoid]

14. Ditto.

Slept one hour Sunday night trying to finish two jobs for clients. Basically 22 hours straight with just food and potty breaks (and checking DU a couple times ).

I miss having a regular paycheck and hours. Not to mention stressing about making ends meet. But I'm not sure I could go back to a 9-5 job now.

[meaculpa2011]

15. Also self employed and I usually start my...

work day 4AM. My most creative hours are from 4AM to 9AM. Then the phone starts ringing. I need unbroken concentration time to get any real momentum going. Like you, I can spend my mid afternoons doing most anything I want--golf, fishing, TV or nothing at all.

Late afternoons mean the PST phone calls start and that can run until 8 or 9PM.

The job, like yours, is 24/7/365.

Wouldn't ever trade it for 9-to-5 in Fortune 500 Land. Tried it, didn't like it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Also self-employed, with clients in several time zones

including Japan, Hawaii, and Europe, as well as all across the mainland U.S.

The workday in Japan corresponds to 7PM-3AM in Minneapolis. Because of the International Date Line, Sunday is not a day off for me. Between choir duties and the fact that 7PM Sunday is 9AM Monday in Japan, I'm often busy all day.

I compensate for it by taking Fridays and Saturdays off. I almost never have anything due on Friday. Then there are the days when I don't have any work at all. They're nice--as long as there aren't too many of them.

I've started not taking my computer on trips so that I have an excuse not to work. However, a few clients always forget that I'm on vacation and contact me anyway, so I do check e-mail daily on my iPad or iPhone.

[SmileyRose]

7. I get paid to do my job not for being there a certain # of hrs

[FSogol]

8. Same here. n/t

[xchrom]

10. Du rec. Nt

[patrice]

16. You really should stop it; you can get fired for working too much. nt

[Smilo]

17. I work from home..........

I had no choice if I wanted to keep my job. I am expected to be available 18/7 - yes weekends and holidays and vacations and when I am sick - but am only paid 8 hours a day. I have to use my phone as a work phone and take calls whenever.

There is a good side - I don't have to commute.

Why do I do this - I need a job and this is a job.

Sadly, the way corporations have made America what it is today - more workers will get shafted and, because corporations have made unions the enemy there is no one to speak out against them.

[Major Nikon]

18. This is what I love about my job

I work as a manager over a 24 hr per day, 365 day per year operation. There are 7 of us, each with an assistant, who perform the same job. That means when I leave, someone else takes over. Very rarely one of my peers will call or text me with a question, but this happens maybe once a month at most. All of us understand the reason why we took our job is because we value our time off, so we don't bug each other unless it's absolutely necessary. Other than that, I put in 40 hrs per week and that's it. I don't check work email when I'm off. I don't even think about work when I'm off. When I go on vacation, my work doesn't pile up. I've turned down promotion opportunities because I'm not going to sell my soul to the company. I put a high value on my personal time. I'm comfortable with what I make and I don't live past my means.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Now let's see how many people here do this following DU

[SoutherDem]

20. I know what you mean.

I have been called on vacation, off days, early in the morning, late at night, and on holidays. I was expected to answer the phone whenever. No extra compensation for this service. That is not counting the trips back to work if I can't fix the problem over the phone.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. and 42% don't even have a work email!

[Burma Jones]

23. Of course, I check DU (and facebook and personal emails etc) at work