Why having half a holiday is bad for you (and your boss)

Emails in the morning, Aperol in the afternoon? Taking semi-working breaks defeats the purpose

- Anna Hart

When Dolly Parton sang about working nine to five, she never imagined that by 2025, these working hours would sound positively luxurious.

Today, work-life boundaries are so blurry that nearly half of UK employees respond to work messages while on annual leave. Thousands of travellers are spending money on on-call-cations, only to check our emails every day, and complain about feeling shortchanged because our summer break hasn’t delivered the physical and mental recuperation we longed for.

Are we really getting value for money from our holidays if we're still mentally in the office?

“Working on holiday is like smoking on a treadmill – it defeats the entire point,” says psychotherapist Julia Samuel MBE, host of the Therapy Works podcast. “Answering emails on holiday is not a sign of dedication. It's a sign you need firmer boundaries. Or a therapist. Possibly both.”

It sounds like I need both. Until this summer, I had never been on holiday without my laptop. (With the obvious exception of music festivals, not because I wanted to be “in the moment”, but because I didn't want to get my MacBook nicked from my tent.) I was less relaxed, less observant, less engaged with my travel companions. But I still thought it was worth it.

Like many Millennials, back in my twenties, I 100 per cent bought the digital dream that “flexible working” gives workers more freedom, and that allowing work to creep into our weekends and holidays is simply the price we pay for this precious perk.

As a young journalist, I was on a modest salary, and by working for an hour or two every day, I could offset the price of my holiday and feel less guilty about a splurge. I also didn't need to worry about preparing coworkers or editors for my absence.