Your odds of being struck by lightning are greater than your odds of going on vacation and being free from work-related emails and calls.
OK, perhaps I exaggerate a tad. But having just returned from a week's vacation, I speak with authority.
It's never been easy to leave town and put work behind you. But in the old days before the Internet and text messaging when I would write about this subject, certain safeguards let you head off while knowing clients would be taken care of and disasters avoided without your immediate attention. And people would let you get away in peace for a few days.
Now, there is nearly no way to get away unscathed.
So-called work-life balance surveys concur. One such survey — conducted by TeamViewer, a company that offers remote access to your or others' computers any time, anywhere — found that 61 percent of employed American vacationers plan to work during their summer vacations.
The issue is getting worse. A similar survey the company conducted last year found that 52 percent of employed Americans said they would work during summer vacations.
What are we working on at the beach or while traipsing through quaint, historic villages? The survey says 38 percent of workers are reading work-related electronic mail; 32 percent want access to a document; 30 percent receive work-related calls; 24 percent take work-related text messages; and 20 percent are asked to do work by a boss, client or colleague.
Yes, I admit, I went prepared, just like the 69 percent in the survey who said they brought a “work-capable” device with them. Sixty-one percent planned to bring up to three such devices. (I only took two.)
Since I am self-employed, who else would respond to email? People expect you to get back to them. Quickly.
Using a one-size-fits-all automatic I'm-on-vacation-let's-talk-when-I-get-back response is not necessarily a solution and tells spammers they have hit the jackpot.
I'm sure someone will write me to say some auto-reply mechanism takes care of that. But when you are your boss or have no one else to cover for you, responding is almost a must.
Of the more than 2,000 adults surveyed in the online, non-random poll, 83 percent agree that having to work during vacation is becoming more common in America.
But workers are not happy about it.
If the boss asks them to work during vacation, 34 percent said they would do the work but not happily; 24 percent feel that their boss doesn't respect their time; 22 percent would say no; 13 percent would turn off their devices and ignore the request altogether; 11 percent would pretend they didn't see the incoming message.
Only 14 percent said they would be happy to do the work.
To have a vacation from work in the old days, I suggested workers set up plans for as many contingencies as possible before they leave town.
We are humans who need breaks from time to time. The best we can do is to insist others understand that, and as I came to peace three days into my vacation, not to ask ourselves to be anything but that.
Email Andrea Kay at andrea@andreakay.com.
