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Key points
- Taking care of work tasks after hours can feel satisfying and responsible.
- New research shows how interruptions from work can affect the quality of your off-work time, and even your health.
- Fully unplugging from work could increase your well-being as well as the quality of your work.
Sometimes, work can follow you home. Items on your "to do" list can linger in your mind even after you leave the office — an unfinished project, a question someone asked you, or a task you simply had no time to finish.
When these thoughts arise, it may feel like the best thing to do is to take care of that lingering issue quickly. Got a free minute between innings of your daughter’s softball game? Good time to call a colleague and discuss that project. Have a free hour on a Saturday? Why not send an email and take care of that unfinished task?
Research strongly suggests, however, that habits like this can be harmful.
Splitting Your Attention
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that mixing work and non-work can be harmful. Many studies indicate that those who mix work and non-work report more stress, experience more conflicts between work and family life, and suffer lower well-being than do workers who keep a boundary between work and non-work (Allen et al., 2020; Wepfer et al., 2018; Barber & Santuzzi, 2015). A surprising finding is that these effects even hold true for people who prefer mixing work and non-work life; they too are more likely to suffer negative psychological outcomes when work life and home life overlap.
So, what exactly is the harm when we blur the lines between work and home? Recently published research has shed light on a possible reason for the correlation between home-work overlap and psychological harm. In a series of studies, Grotto, Mills, and Etough (2022) show that when a work task interrupts what you’re doing in your non-work time, it costs you valuable time and effort to get it out of your mind and get back to what you were doing. In this way, work tasks aren’t just a brief interruption; the switching cost involved damages the quality of attention and engagement you devote to non-work activities.
If work is infiltrating your off-hours in this way, then you likely aren't getting the full benefits of time off. If your attention never fully detaches from work, research suggests that you will be more likely to feel stressed and sleep poorly (Schlacter, 2017). Perhaps even more important (for your boss, at least), off-hours recovery time actually benefits your employer: Better recovery in off hours is associated with better engagement and performance at work (Sonnentag, 2003).
Satisfying, But Costly
So even if you like to have easy access to work, and even if it feels comforting to take care of a work email or answer a text or phone call during off-hours, it may be costing you more than you think. You might be giving your job time, mental engagement, and attention that could be more wisely spent elsewhere. Unplugging from work, and giving undivided attention to hobbies, family, or friends, will help keep you healthier — and more productive at work.
