The UK survey of 4,245 workers across the country reveals that just 1-in-3 employees accesses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networking sites whilst at work.

However, for some professions, social networks have become a staple of the working day. Almost half of marketing and PR professionals tap into the social sphere every day, compared to just a quarter of finance workers.

And when it comes to following Twitter or updating a Facebook status, mobile takes the lead: with 60% of UK employees opt to use their phone over a work computer.

The research also reveales that 1-in-4 businesses has banned employees from browsing social networking sites during work hours. Some 35% of employers give full access and, while the remaining 40% do allow access, it’s almost always permitted for business purposes only.

MD of reed.co.uk, Martin Warnes comments:  “In spite of their phenomenal popularity, the majority of UK workers would rather steer clear of Facebook and Twitter whilst they’re at work, with many seeing them as an unwelcome distraction or a risk to their privacy.

 “But social networks aren’t just about liking and poking, they have an increasingly important role in business and in career development. Used in the right way, social networks offer a powerful platform for engaging with new customers, strengthening client relationships and gathering information."

Warnes recommends employers enter into a dialogue with their staff about access to social networking sites at work: “For many, social networking is a way of life, and smartphones allow us to stay up-to-date no matter where we are and what we’re doing. So to avoid a situation where employees are surreptitiously accessing Facebook and Google + under their desks, employers should engage with their staff to determine an appropriate policy for use. 

SIX COPING STRATEGIES

Social email software provider harmon.ie has announced the UK launch of harmon.ie for SharePoint, the first platform to combine business collaboration tools and social enterprise networks into a sidebar within Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.
Thirty years ago, when you left work you were done. Only doctors carried pagers — and reaching out to them after hours was truly for life or death matters. Today, though, the communication and social tools designed to save us time in the office by making us more productive, are encroaching upon our personal lives.

According to a new industry survey of IT users that was commissioned by social email software provider harmon.ie, 82% of workers stay connected in the evenings and the majority stay connected during vacation and in bed. 

Standard advice to workers struggling to balance work and personal time focuses on prioritising the work that absolutely has to get done — make a list of what you need to do, stay focused on what’s important, and so on. 

But you have to take things a step further and manage your connectivity with everyone at the office if you want to truly be able to regain control over your life.

Anything else is like hearing that to be in better shape, you really ought to exercise more and eat less. Good advice, but rarely actually be effective. These tips help you cope when your work can always find you.

Overcome instant gratification
In many ways, constant connectivity is about instant gratification. There’s a positive feeling associated with being able to check your email and find something new there. There’s also some anxiety that goes along with being out of the loop, feeling left behind. As addictive as that instant gratification can be, moving past it is crucial. When you’re off duty, the latest item may seem to be urgent, but is it really?

As fun as that instant gratification can be, moving past it is crucial. You have to have something positive you can associate with actually getting your high priority work done.

Managing emergencies and expectations
One of the biggest issues that most people face coping with constant communications is in the mind of the sender, everything is an emergency. But you don’t necessarily have the same urgency to get back to someone as they had to contact you in the first place, especially if that email or IM comes when you’re on vacation or sleeping. That makes it crucial to lay ground work on what actually constitutes an emergency and what can afford to wait until you return to the office.

Your boss may have a certain expectation that he can always reach you on your mobile, whether you’ve stepped out of the office for lunch or you’re on the beach with your family. It’s not always a policy management has thought about, but it tends to go with the territory.

You need to be proactive and create your own policy, both for people who are further down the ladder or are your managers. You have to write out your own personal communication expectations in order to manage expectations.

Without a written policy, you can be tempted to give in: you’ll answer a call just this once, or handle a few emails just to get things done. That can also confuse the people that you need to work with. Set a meeting, if need be, to discuss how the policy can be implemented.

Take communication vacations
Always being on is incredibly wearing: from not getting enough sleep to the energy required to be always ready to leap into action in response to an email, social update, or IM. To refresh, you have to take time off from work and actually have a separation from the office.

That requires certain actions on both your part and by your boss. First, you have to be willing to take a sabbatical from your digital devices — set times when you will be out of reach. Make the choice to turn everything off. You have to be willing to use the off button yourself, or at a minimum separate your personal and business online presence, if a vacation is to be more than just a change of working scenery.

Second, your manager or boss needs to understand if you’re out of the office, especially on vacation, that means you shouldn’t be working. It can be difficult for some companies to understand that sort of disconnection. But it’s poor business strategy to simply refuse to give employees time to relax.

If you frame your discussion with boss and colleagues with the need to be mentally fresh to do your job, it will be easier for them to understand the benefits of creating a division between work time and personal time.

Respecting time off also makes people more willing to work — employees can be sure that they aren’t being abused.

Plan a sit down with your family
As with your employer, it’s important to have a clear idea of expectations with family members. For some, it’s easy to wind up in a situation where a relationship suffers because one partner is spending ‘home’ time working.

It’s equally easy to wind up where a family member isn’t clear on boundaries and contacts you regularly during work hours. Laying out what each family member needs in time and communications terms is important — even more crucial is sticking to it.

Without clear guidelines on the personal side, though, it’s that much easier for your work to find you and encroach on what’s supposed to be personal time.

Bring old school etiquette to the mix
There’s a reason that grandparents and elderly relatives tend to get a little icy if you take a phone call at the dinner table. 

Manners generally demand that if someone has taken time out of their day to spend with you — whether in a meeting or in a personal situation — you give them your full attention.

It’s common for people pull out their cell phones and other electronic devices when they should focus on the person in front of them.

According to the industry study, 2-in 3  people report doing just that in meetings. Refusing to do so however can make your work that much more manageable. You aren’t abusing other people’s time. It can be frustrating to see everyone in a meeting ignore you when you’re the speaker.

Revisit personal communications policy regularily
As important as it is to set your guidelines for communication, it’s just as important to revisit them as situations change. At different points in your life, it can be more acceptable to be accessible to work, as when you’re young and single, compared to when you have a new baby at home. Don’t assume that the policy that was perfect two years ago will stay that way. It should evolve with the rest of your life.

You control the situation
The truth of having a career is that you have to put in the hours and do the work. There will always be situations that pop up to demand attention, even when work is supposed to be the last thing on your mind. But the same is true of your family and anything you take seriously.

It’s up to you to create guidelines for how you will handle these different parts of your life. It’s up to you to stick to your rules. Remember, it takes practice to get used to being a little less accessible and having a little more control: it’s not a feeling we get used to immediately. It takes self-discipline to keep choosing not to answer beeps and buzzes we hear. But peace of mind and your ability to do your work benefits can be incredible.

About harmon.ie
harmon.ie (pronounced ‘harmony’) is a provider of social email software for document collaboration to every business user by transforming the email client into a collaboration and social workspace.

Thousands of businesses already use harmon.ie social email to vastly increase user adoption of Microsoft SharePoint or Google Docs for document sharing, collaboration, and social networking.

Yaacov Cohen is co-founder and CEO of harmon.ie (previously known as Mainsoft) since 1999. The company has been building cross-platform enterprise software since 1993. 

An American version of Coping with Distractions appears as Six way to boost your productivity  written for Forbes AdVoice by Yaacov Cohen.