Employees appear to be struggling to find the balance between work and relaxation, a recent study conducted by Microsoft for the launch of its Office 365 Home Premium, has found.

The research showed that employees do an average of four hours and 51 minutes of extra work from home each week. Most people were catching up on emails, but some employees said that they had been forced to work on a day off, postponing social engagements in order to meet deadlines.

However, things appear to work both ways. Some of those surveyed said that they have taken advantage of the freedom that working from home has afforded them and have headed out to do other chores while at home, using their phones to watch out for emails.

Abigail Rappoport, spokeswoman for Microsoft Office, told the Daily Mail: "As the pace of modern life increases, we're more pressed for time than ever.

"However the rise of mobile devices, social media and the cloud is radically changing the way we live and work. We wanted to find out how Brits are managing in this new environment."