Technology can be both 'friend' and 'foe': Study

A new study has revealed that when it comes to managing boundaries between work and home life, technology is neither all good nor all bad, but a "frenemy".

According to an ongoing research from the University of Cincinnati, technology, specifically mobile technology, can be alternately used to maintain, erase or manage home and work boundaries along a spectrum.

The study, titled "Strategic Use of Mobile Technology to Manage the Work-Family Boundary," found that full-time working employees can engage in several strategies when using technology to manage work-home boundaries.

The various strategies, includes 'collocation', which occurs when an individual reports being physically present in one domain while cognitively and behaviorally engaged in both domains, which may involve engaging in both work and personal tasks while in the home domain, e.g., doing laundry in the midst of a work project or responding to a work-related e-mail while attending a child's sports event.

Distancing, which occurs when an individual either turns off the technology or changes the setting to make oneself unavailable in one domain when engaged in the other.

Crossing which connotes when an individual uses technology as an aid in moving from one domain to another.

Furst-Holloway said that these strategies were often perceived as a help in navigating work-home boundaries and allows for greater perceived control of work flow and information required to be better prepared upon returning to the office.