It’s the question that defines a whole generation: should you check work emails outside of office hours?

Just last week, Stylist reported on the ‘always-on’ culture that society seems to have accepted as the norm. A survey found that 86% of respondents said they had “issues switching off”, and 80% said they’d had trouble sleeping because of anxiety around their work and availability.

Emails are definitely a big part of the problem here, with another recent study showing that 54% of commuters used the train’s WiFi to get a head start on their work in the morning.

Ultimately, this is leading to burnout.

Those feelings of stress, tiredness, anxiety and being overwhelmed have been officially recognised as burnout by World Health Organization. It’s a real medical condition, and the expectation for us to be plugged into the world – including our work – is triggering it.

And new research has shown just how bad the problem is.

Banning emails outside of work hours might actually trigger burnout