It’s not the prettiest word, but you’d better get used to it because this blurring between our working lives and downtime, or business and leisure, is here to stay. In our “always on” world, when we use our iPhone to pick up e-mails as well as download music, and our laptop to create spreadsheets and watch movies, the tools of work and play have become one, and the traditional nine-to-five has ceased to exist. We’ll answer work calls during the evening and (occasionally) visit eBay from our desks. “Separating work and life is a lost skill among 18 to 35-year-olds,” says Timothy Ferriss, author of the bestselling The 4-Hour Work Week. And big business hasn’t been slow to take note. Nike has 1.5m friends on Facebook, and even Marks & Spencer tweets. Business hotels are ditching reception desks to turn their lobbies into art galleries, and the dowager-like Lanesborough in London is getting with it, giving every guest a free laptop during their stay. Nowadays everyone wants in on our social life.

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