There is something paradoxical about seeking a ‘work/life balance’ through having home-based online access to your workplace … is that balance - or blur?

As a part-timer who loves my job, I’m increasingly aware of the potential blending of my professional and personal lives within the seductive window of my Microsoft Outlook inbox.  After all, checking in on my work emails when I am technically not working doesn’t constitute real work – or does it?  

I am certainly not the only person in the world who willingly engages with work outside paid hours, simply because I can, and because it is tempting, interactive and often interesting and inspiring.  But, what are the implications of this new era of white-collar workers for whom internet connectivity has all but obliterated the traditional boundary of the office walls?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a great advocate for the internet and for the flexibility all forms of digital connectivity offer us. We’re all much better informed and empowered because of it.  However, I did stumble across a recent Australian study revealing that work-related email is “invading our homes and leisure spaces, causing stress, anxiety, an inability to switch off, as well as potential damage to family relationships”.1  

It got me thinking. Is there something insidious and unconsidered occurring here that needs pondering? For example, the study indicated that while many parents were concerned that their children were addicted to the internet, actually they were showing signs of addiction themselves -  but they didn't see their use of computers as a problem because it was to do with work. What’s more time engaged with work life was compromising interactive time with their children.

I am sure there is more research into the potential for role overload and physical, mental or emotional fatigue associated with this increasing integration and blurring of home and work boundaries.  And, to what extent this issue is discussed in our workplaces, I am not sure, but perhaps it should be put on the agenda.

It’s all part of what someone recently described to me as a new problem called ‘online/offline tension’ that is,  the growing gap between our online (public) and offline (private) identities. With the ubiquitous world of social media we are increasingly able to abandon familiar face-to-face friendships and intimacy for the ease and immediacy intimacy of cyberspace.

Are these ‘social media’ relationships real or are we engaging in what leading Kiwi business  journalist Hazel Phillips recently described on Close Up as “Faux human contact…verbal vomiting of rubbish” with; “some people living their entire lives out on Facebook”.  What’s more, in her opinion, tweeting is “indulgent and egocentric and nothing to do with what the world is really like”.

Perhaps escape from reality is why cyberspace is so tempting, after all online we have complete control over our identities and who we communicate with; a much easier ride than the real world of daily physical and emotional challenge. 

So what does this all mean for our evolution as human beings? Prospectively, the human race is evolving into a self-centred bunch of impatient and uncompassionate hounds - if the research of one of the world’s leading brain researchers is anything to go by. Baroness Susan Greenfield, Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution is concerned that repeated social media exposure could effectively 'rewire' our brains. Indeed, media reports quote her concerns that social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users, leading to shortened attention spans, encouraging instant gratification and making young people more self-centred. 

I must reiterate. I'm not against technology and computers, absolutely not. But perhaps we all need to consider what we could potentially be doing to our brains and even bodies? Personally, I’m checking in to ensure my focus is primarily on  cultivating real relationships. If I had children, I’d make sure they developed human relationships before being allowed to launch into virtual reality versions.

Ultimately, every new era of development ushers in its challenges and opportunities whether that be industrial growth vs pollution or technological speed vs android beings. So, while yes, online relationships are an excellent platform for business and personal relationships, they should be seen as only the door openers to the real thing.

1.http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=4716