By MATT SCHULER, Digital Architect, Marx Layne

There’s a trend growing among American adults, staying connected with work even when away from it. I’m not talking about checking an email from your computer on a Tuesday night, but pushing back from the Thanksgiving feast and loading up your account during a true holiday.

Mashable cited a new survey from Xobni and Harris interactive that says “59% of employed American adults check their e-mail during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of the 59%, more than half (55%) check their work e-mails at least once a day, while about 28% check their e-mails multiple times throughout the day.”

Take in to account that some employees have their work email pushed to a device, and you can safely assume that important work can get done even on a holiday.

They’re checking their work emails for a variety of reasons too. The largest group (42%) are checking email to stay up-to-date, others believe it helps ease their workload and about one in five say that they emails serve as a welcome distraction.

If people are so inclined to check their work emails during a holiday or break, I think it’s safe to say they’re also using the same devices with increased frequency and are looking for new ways for technology to make their lives easier.

Personally, I’ve had work email pushed to my phone and it was of great benefit. I learned about scoops, review opportunities, schedule changes and more. I used the same smartphone to check up on social networking strategy and opportunities to update my coworkers if I saw a problem online that needed fixing.

Are you always connected, checking work emails while on vacation or during a holiday? What are some ways that it helps you?