BLURRING OF PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIVES
Is creating physical boundaries by using two separate devices – one for work, the other for personal matters – the way to gain more control?
Changing the expectations of bosses, parents or other stakeholders is a work in progress. Deep work or flow gurus have also recommended using our phones’ “Do Not Disturb” modes and toggling settings to manage the barrage of notifications. However, these still only address part of the problem.
The other part of the problem is that we have merged our personal and professional lives into one device. Our discussions seamlessly glide between what to cook for dinner and the sales targets for this quarter, making it impossible to fully disconnect from either.
But setting physical boundaries is only the beginning. In our hyper-connected society, we have been conditioned to seek validation from others. And for many professionals, managers and executives, constant availability has been branded as a marker of importance or effectiveness.
About 89 per cent of the time, we’re picking up our phones not because of a notification, but to see if there is one, according to a small 2021 study by the London School of Economics and Political Science. It’s as though we’re searching for opportunities for validation.
This makes separate devices even more imperative, as a first step towards the second, more difficult, step of reprogramming mental boundaries. Compartmentalising our availability can slowly train us to let go of the need to respond to every notification, be constantly available, and to be validated by the demands of others.
