Methods for monitoring work-life balance in a digital world

Digital technologies - smart phones, email, social networking, etc. - are fundamentally changing our relationship with work. Digital technologies enable us to be always connected. However, the question remains as to how digital technologies affect our work-life balance. In this position paper, we report on some methods we are using to study how to continuously monitor and observe work-life balance, and discuss the advantages/disadvantages of these methods. Work-life balance is a relatively under-explored area in the quantified self literature; this paper therefore contributes to broader discussions on quantified self but from a domain that has received little attention to date.

[1]  Upkar Varshney,et al.  Designing ubiquitous computing environments to support work life balance , 2009, CACM.

[2]  Penny Hagen,et al.  Balancing work, life and other concerns: a study of mobile technology use by Australian freelancers , 2006, NordiCHI '06.

[3]  Julie Rennecker,et al.  Delays and interruptions: A self-perpetuating paradox of communication technology use , 2005, Inf. Organ..

[4]  Phoebe Sengers,et al.  "I lie to myself that i have freedom in my own schedule": productivity tools and experiences of busyness , 2011, CHI.

[5]  Cheryl Geisler,et al.  Work–life boundary management and the personal digital assistant , 2007 .

[6]  Gilly Leshed,et al.  Slowing down with personal productivity tools , 2012, INTR.

[7]  J. Reinsch,et al.  Multicommunicating: A Practice Whose Time Has Come? , 2008 .

[8]  Katarzyna Stawarz,et al.  "I'd sit at home and do work emails": how tablets affect the work-life balance of office workers , 2013, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[9]  A. Stinchcombe Information and Organizations , 2019 .

[10]  Donald Hislop,et al.  Mobility and Technology in the Workplace , 2008 .

[11]  Ken Roberts,et al.  Work‐life balance – the sources of the contemporary problem and the probable outcomes: A review and interpretation of the evidence , 2007 .

[12]  Mary Czerwinski,et al.  A diary study of task switching and interruptions , 2004, CHI.

[13]  Jon Whittle,et al.  Prototyping 'clasp': implications for designing digital technology for and with adults with autism , 2014, Conference on Designing Interactive Systems.