In a survey of UK working adults sponsored by Good Technology, 93% of employees continue working when they have left the office - for a total of three hours and 31 minutes each week. That's a total of 15 hours a month or 183 hours a year - the equivalent of 23 extra working days a year.
But while half do it simply to stay organised, 20% want to impress the boss by putting in the extra hours. A further 37% reply to work emails in bed to keep on top of things. But they're also using their mobiles to mix work and their personal life in ways never seen before.
In a nod to the UK's changing work environment, 38% of the 1,000 workers polled believe their job would now be impossible without mobile access to work email.
Most people are consolidating their devices and many use the same phone for personal and work use - 15% of people are still carrying separate personal and work phones.
Two thirds of people check their work emails before 7.00am, with the average UK worker checking his or her phone at 6:51am.
More than a third of people confess that they respond to work mails from be and 61% use their commute to read and reply to work emails.
More than a tenth (15%) still respond to work email after 10pm and 65 per cent don't go to sleep until they've had a final check of work emails. A third say they "can't get through Saturday morning" without checking their work email and 29% routinely check work emails whilst at the dinner table with another 16% replying to work emails during their evening meal.
Although 15% of employees have a work phone and a personal phone, 42% use the same device for both work and personal activity.
Andy Jacques general manager EMEA for mobile security software company Good Technology, said: ''There was a time when it was difficult to continue working outside of the office without carrying a laptop. But with today's 'always on' society, people are pretty much working from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep.
"Smartphones and tablets have made it much easier to be able to work on the move, and that's helping people choose when and where to get things done. At the school gate, on the train or in the queue at the coffee shop, this new wave of connected device is enabling people to be more productive than ever before.
''Today, many businesses are allowing employees to use their personal phones for work, which means that they are now carrying around not only sensitive corporate information, but irreplaceable personal data on the same device.''
He added: "This research clearly highlights just how important smartphones and tablets are becoming to the UK workforce. Employees are increasingly needed to be able to access company email wherever they are, on whatever device they choose and at any time.
"The challenge to IT departments is to ensure that workers can do this easily without putting company information at risk."
The survey of 1,000 working UK adults was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Good Technology between 8 and 10 May 2012.
