Blurring the lines: The boundary between work and home
By CareerBuilder blogger on Oct 7, 2008 in Web/Tech, Work/Life
A few days ago, I wrote about a recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, and talked about the impact that the Internet has had on us in the workplace.
That report, and a survey conducted by Fiberlink Communications, also talks about telecommuting and mobile connectivity to the office or the workplace. The survey participants were asked about the platforms they used to connect with work, as well as the impact that an increasingly mobile workplace has on both their productivity and their personal lives.
In general, workers seemed to see the increased options for working from home or mobile connections to work as a positive. But in the Pew survey, 48% of workers indicated that their stress levels were elevated because they were ALWAYS connected to work.
The same scenario that offers the benefits and flexibility of working in your bathrobe at 9 am may also lead to you (in the same bathrobe?) on your laptop or Blackberry at 11 pm trying to resolve an issue.
This isn’t a surprising trend, and it’s part of a larger trend where workers are finding it harder and harder to define that line between work and home.
Back in May, we released a survey about vacations and the results were very similar.
- Many of the workers who were surveyed said that they were checking voicemails and emails while they were on vacation.
- For some people, they checked in because they wanted to maintain or manage their workload.
- Others did it because they felt they were EXPECTED to do so.
I’m curious to hear what our readers think. Is mobile connectivity a double-edged sword? Has the ability to telecommute been beneficial for you, or are you overwhelmed by the feeling that work is never “over”?
Susan | Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
I have a hard time separating the two!
Aparna | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
I started working from home about a year ago.Though this has advantages of saving on gas and time and working in safe environment, I have found that most of the time I am taken for granted that I will work late or during night hours or even during weekend. ‘Can you do this since you are working from home ?’ is how the conversation starts.
This increased my stress and also the internal fight which goes on when you cannot allot time to kids.
This made me think about my resignation about 5 times in a year and what I really wanted.
The other thing of working from home is that there is no differentiation in the boundaries and that I was working all the time..even when I am writing this at 3:00 am..I am working for some ‘URGENT’ stuff.
I found I was working 90% more than I would have if working from office.
Plus not to mention feeling neglected and not being invovled in the decision making process.
Lynne | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
I was on the “cutting” edge of what is now the telecommuting movement. I started working from home in 1984 before the internet was so pervasive. I would pick up assignments weekly from the office and complete them on my own schedule. As I was not “connected” I never felt the compulsion to constantly check up on things. I did however feel that I was distanced from the decisions that affected the office and my job.
That job ended when the company merged with another. I have unsuccessfully tried to obtain another position where I can work from home. My current position as controller leaves me continually checking my Blackberry for updates anyway, even if it’s only when I go out for lunch.
I feel the benefits of working from home outweigh the costs. It’s a matter of drawing the line on when you are available. We all should learn to turn off for our own benefit.
Amy | Oct 8, 2008 | Reply
I work from home at 1-2 days a week and don’t have any problems. I log into the VPN in the morning, so I have access to email and everything I need, and when my day is over, I log out. I don’t log back in or check email for the rest of the evening.
You have to set boundaries and expectations. If you set the expectation that you’re always ‘on’ and never say no to working on weekends, then that is what your company will expect from you. I have encountered no negative consequences from others having to wait until the next business day to get a response, if they attempt to contact me after normal business hours. This is because I have not “taught” them to expect this.
Most of us aren’t doing open heart surgery and very rarely is anything ever ACTUALLY an emergency. This goes for the lunch hour, as well. The world can wait until you get back.