As surveys about the lives and careers of IT directors go, a recent effort by Synstar takes some beating.

After speaking to about 700 organisations across Europe, Synstar's 'pressure point index' (or PPI) found that IT directors were "trapped in a cycle of stress and self-neglect". Worse, it discovered that most IT directors prefer exercise to sex. Other lowlights for an IT director: 94% regularly take calls out of working hours; 83% cannot sleep for worrying about their jobs; 70% are worried about the instability of their IT systems; and 48% spend more than two hours commuting. (Presumably, 100% are tired of completing surveys.)

The outsourcing services company Synstar's solution: outsource more.