Why We Check Emails on Holiday (And How to Stop)

If the title of this article made you wince with recognition, I see you and I understand. We all do it. For the most part, we know it's not helping us, and we'd rather have a clean break from work. Yet for one reason or another, we find ourselves there; on the beach, in restaurant loos, during family dinners, 'just' quickly checking to make sure we're not missing something.

"I choose to check my emails on holiday."

Last year, 98 academics responded to my poll about annual leave. Seventy percent agreed that they check emails during their time off; 36% daily, 34% occasionally. Colleagues shared strategies they have adopted to stop themselves checking: deleting work apps, buying burner phones, creating physical barriers between themselves and their inboxes. Whether you choose to answer your email, or have engineered a way of avoiding it, it is clear that this activity is taking up precious brain space. There is no easy off switch. Why do we find it so hard to disconnect?

Schrodinger's Inbox

Every academic email sits in a quantum state of emergency until observed. We don't know if disaster lurks inside that unopened message, so we peek. Just a quick check. Just to be sure. The logic seems sound, if we can nip problems in the bud whilst we are away, there's less chaos waiting when we return. We tell ourselves we're being strategic, efficient, responsible. This logic however, rests on three false premises.

1. You're the only person capable of solving the problem

This assumption reveals how deeply we've internalised institutional dependency. Universities have trained us to believe we're irreplaceable while simultaneously treating us as entirely replaceable.

Ask yourself: what evidence do you have that your two-week absence would cause genuine disaster? Not inconvenience, but actual disaster that couldn't be managed by temporary delegation or postponement.

2. Immediate response prevents escalation

Research contradicts this. When you respond to emails during holidays, you're operating without full context and often create more problems than you solve. Colleagues may not anticipate your response. Maybe it is all in hand, and your email undermines someone else's solution, or muddies the waters for the student or recipient at the other end? When you reply at 11pm from a beach in Spain, you're teaching people that your boundaries are meaningless. And so… more emails will follow.

3. Working during holidays reduces your overall workload

This is the most dangerous myth. Work expands to fill available time. When you signal availability during supposed downtime, people adjust their expectations accordingly. Your workload doesn't decrease, it just expands.

The Price we Pay

Studies show that the benefits of taking a holiday only occur when work is genuinely absent [1], and that limiting email checking reduces stress and improves well-being [2]. While email checking during holidays has become normalised across many professions, research consistently shows that genuine disconnection from work improves both wellbeing and subsequent performance [1].

The 'time' spent on email is just a fraction of the mental space that checking your emails will take from your holiday. You find yourself mentally rehearsing responses, spiraling down 'what if' rabbit holes, and carrying work conversations in your head throughout dinner, excursions, and family time. You're physically present but mentally still at your desk.

The academics in my poll who had successfully disconnected - the 21% who were "completely disconnected" - had dealt with these false premises, sometimes with help from others, sometimes following burnout. It is possibel that academics also have different circumstances; job security, fewer caring responsibilities, or supportive managers, highlighting how structural inequalities shape our ability to set boundaries, making this a systemic rather than purely individual issue.

When Choice Becomes Impossible

What does it mean that 70% of academics can't fully disconnect whilst on holiday? The widespread nature suggests this isn't about individual preference, rather it's systemic. When we feel trapped by circumstances, we sometimes convince ourselves we're choosing our constraints as psychological protection. But true choice requires genuine alternatives. When your identity, career progression, and self-worth depend on constant availability, you don't have choice.

The deeper issue is identity fusion. When your sense of self becomes entirely fused with your professional role, taking genuine time off feels like temporarily ceasing to exist. Many of us have, at some point, actually forgotten what we do when we're not working, work has expanded to fill every available space.

Many institutions genuinely want to support staff wellbeing. But institutional policies often conflict with the cultural pressures and structural demands that make constant availability feel essential. You'll work unpaid overtime because your self-worth depends on being "a good academic." You'll check emails on holiday because you can't bear being seen as uncommitted. These beliefs are baked into the model that we now operate in.

Breaking the Cycle

If staying connected energises rather than drains you, that's valid. Pay attention to what gives you energy versus what depletes it. The concern arises when the balance tips, or when you find yourself unable to choose disconnection even when you want to.

However if you want to be in a place where your next period of leave is uninterrupted by thoughts of email, here are some things you can do. 

1. You can start now by gradually taking more control of your inbox. How many times a day do you need to check your email? Could you start by allowing yourself three times a day? Be proactive rather than responsive.

2. Make a list of every memorable email emergency you've handled during your last holiday. How many genuinely required your immediate intervention? How many couldn't have waited until your return? How many created additional work because you responded without full context?

3. If you're concerned that taking proper leave could harm your career, start by having an honest conversation with your line manager (and students!) about expectations during your absence. Often our fears about others' expectations exceed their actual requirements. Clear handovers, agreed out-of-office messages, and explicit boundaries discussed beforehand can protect both your wellbeing and professional relationships.

True choice means you could decide not to check emails without fear of professional or personal consequences. If that possibility feels terrifying, you might be operating from necessity rather than genuine choice and responding to systemic pressures that make constant availability feel essential for professional survival.

Your university would replace you tomorrow. Your family and health won't.

You work as an academic. You are not your job title.

How many of your life choices would change if you truly believed that?

If this article rang true for you, you're not alone. I support academics who are struggling with overwhelm and can't switch off from work. Drop me a message, sometimes just talking through these challenges with someone who understands academic culture can be the first step toward change.

References

[1] Grant, R. S., Buchanan, B. E., & Shockley, K. M. (2025). I need a vacation: A meta-analysis of vacation and employee well-being. Journal of Applied Psychology, 110(7), 887–905. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001262 

[2] Kushlev, K., & Dunn, E. W. (2015). Checking email less frequently reduces stress. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 220-228.