Nearly one out of five companies in Sweden today lack regular landline telephones, and many of the employees in the bigger cities are equipped with smartphones. But that mobility increases stress, since it�s making it difficult to relax.

�The paradox is that even though it increases stress, it will also make you work even more. You want to go and pick up your children at daycare and then continue to work a few hours in the evening,� says Mats Lundquist, business and area manager at Telenor Sverige. Telenor�s Mobility Report 2012, is based on interviews with 1,000 users of a company-paid mobile phone and 600 decision makers.

A quarter of the employees were using their phones privately during their work hours, while almost half of them did more work-related things during their time off from work, the report shows. And 60 percent felt that working this way with a mobile phone was important in order for them to get the �puzzle of life� together. But it�s stressful. All of 43 percent said it increased stress and made it difficult for them to relax, though more women than men felt it actually decreased stress. �It may have to do with women in general being better at multi-tasking, and a mobile way of working lessens the stress when it comes to merging work and family life.�