Remote Working Can Damage Work-life Balance, Wellbeing And Productivity Unless Both Staff And Managers Set Boundaries In Place

Interruptions at home not only hinder remote workers’ focus and ability to complete tasks to time and to standard, but can also negatively affect their wellbeing, new research from Durham University Business School finds.

To prevent this, companies should invest in assisted mindfulness practices, and pay greater attention to fostering flow experiences – states characterized by a high level of focus on and absorption in what one is doing.

The study, “Are You in the Zone when Working from Home? How Remote Workers' Daily Flow Experiences Promote Daily Functioning and Well-Being Through Reduced Work-Home Interruption Behaviors,” explores the realities of work in the aftermath of global COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and the stresses faced by hybrid and tele-workers.

Remote work has become a standard, expected feature of modern employment, the researchers note. When lockdown regulations eased, and companies issued return-to-office policies, many workforces resisted, demanding continued flexibility.

But that flexibility, the authors state, presents a double-edged sword for managers and employees, as it increases the likelihood of cross-domain interruptions – domestic tasks or distractions – that can disrupt their focus and immersion in work tasks, impairing how staff function.

“For example, stepping away from a work task to unload a dishwasher and then returning to it requires more mental effort to self-regulate and refocus than it would if they felt able to stay focused on work and tackled domestic tasks later on,” says Professor Jakob Stollberger, who co-authored the study.

As well as providing a negative impact on work engagement, the research states such blurred lines also impair workers’ ability to switch off and relax, counteracting the work-life balance that remote working is said to support.

“Despite benefits such as greater flexibility and autonomy for staff, research has also uncovered less positive consequences such as loneliness and disconnection, as well as increased stress for workers,” Professor Stollberger continues.

This study is the first to not only investigate the causes of such stressors but also suggest easily applicable solutions.

The researchers analysed the daily diaries of more than 87 remote workers across a variety of sectors including; teaching, academia, finance, public administration and IT.

Staff were asked to record data relating to their workload and wellbeing four times each day for a 10 day period. The researchers also assessed employees’ mindfulness regarding work tasks.

The data revealed a patterns of increasing stress and need for recovery as well as lower wellbeing where work was disrupted by domestic life.

However, on days participants experienced more frequent flow states, the impact of those interruptions and negative consequences resulting from them decreased.

Because flow states are quite transient and fluctuate from day to day, the researchers also looked at what can be done on days where participants do not manage to find flow at work. The results showed that engaging in mindfulness practices at the beginning of the day had a compensatory effect, allowing staff to still reap the wellbeing benefits they would have otherwise gained from higher daily flow experiences.

To aid professional performance and protect wellbeing the researchers make a number of recommendations for managers and employees to follow.

Employees can benefit by limiting the opportunity for interruptions. Scheduling focus times where they are less likely to be disturbed or distracted by domestic life, creating a dedicated work space such as a spare room-turned-office rather than the kitchen table to remove the temptation to complete home tasks, and creating time to break from all responsibilities and reset. Relegating home tasks to lunch breaks may appear a more productive use of time overall, but gives workers little physical or mental respite.

Actively practicing mindfulness each morning can also adjust employees’ mental state, preparing them for the day ahead.

Managers must also set boundaries and introduce proactive, protective practices which ensure remote workers keep pace and connection with office-based colleagues. Engaging remote staff with sufficiently challenging tasks can help to enhance engagement and reduce the likelihood of distraction. The sense of a job well done upon completion can also go a long way to ensuring staff wellbeing remains high.

Professor Stollberger says, “By assigning tasks with clear goals, providing regular feedback, and ensuring employees possess the necessary skills to meet challenging demands, managers can support teleworkers’ boundary management and work-related flow experiences.”

In tackling feelings of overwhelm or disconnection, the researchers suggest management implement company-wide mindfulness-based training programmes that enable teleworkers to recognise potential work-home interruption behaviours and act to address them.

As organisations continue to discuss return-to-office mandates as a means of boosting comradery and productivity, the research calls for nuance. Hybrid work can provide a good balance of both.

The research has been conducted by researchers from South-East Technological University, Trinity College Dublin, Universität Wuppertal, and the University of Queensland, along with Durham University Business School, and has been published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

/ENDS

For further information about the research or to speak with Professor Stollberger, please contact Kerry Ruffle at BlueSky Education – kerry@bluesky-pr.com / +44(0)1582790701

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Focp0000429