It is commonly claimed that ubiquitous connectivity erodes the boundaries that once separated work from other aspects of life. Mobile devices in particular enable people to perform work-related activities anytime anywhere. Surprisingly, however, we know little about how people nationwide organise their daily working time over a period that has witnessed rapid technological change. Using the United Kingdom Time Use Surveys 2000 and 2015, covering this period of technological change, we studied work extension practices, and the links between work extension, total work hours and subjective time pressure. We found a significant, though small, increase in work extension, and evidence that it was significantly associated with time pressure in 2015, but not in 2000. Additionally, work extension increased total work hours, which was concentrated entirely in time working with a mobile device. We discuss our results in light of some taken-for-granted narratives about mobile devices allowing work to colonise life.
AdamB (1995) Timewatch: The Social Analysis of Time. Cambridge: Polity Press.
2.
BaileyDLeonardiP (2015) Technology Choices: Why Occupations Differ in Their Embrace of Technology. Cambridge: MIT Press.
3.
BarleySRMeyersonDEGrodalS (2011) E-mail as a source and symbol of stress. Organization Science22(4): 887–906.
4.
BittmanMBrownJEWajcmanJ (2009) The mobile phone, perpetual contact and time pressure. Work, Employment and Society23(4): 673–691.
5.
CastellsM (2010) The Rise of the Network Society, 2nd Edition.Malden, MA: Blackwell.
6.
Center for the Digital Future (2013) The 2013 Digital Future Project: Surveying the Digital Future – Year 11. Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California.
7.
ChesleyN (2005) Blurring boundaries? Linking technology use, spillover, individual distress, and family satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and Family67(5): 1237–1248.
8.
DaviesARFrinkB (2014) The origins of the ideal worker: The separation of work and home in the United States from the market revolution to 1950. Work and Occupations41(1): 18–39.
9.
DuttonWHBlankGGroseljD (2013) Cultures of the Internet: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Survey 2013. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK.
10.
DuxburyLHigginsCSmartRet al. (2014) Mobile technology and boundary permeability. British Journal of Management25(3): 570–588.
11.
FelsteadAJewsonNWaltersS (2005) Changing Places of Work. London: Palgrave.
12.
GershunyJ (2000) Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
13.
GershunyJSullivanO (1998) Sociological uses of time-use diary data. European Sociological Review14(1): 69–85.
14.
GiddensA (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
15.
GlucksmannM (1995) Why ‘work’? Gender and the ‘total social organization of labour’. Gender, Work & Organization2(2): 63–75.
16.
HassanR (2009) Empires of Speed: Time and the Acceleration of Politics and Society. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
17.
KenyonS (2008) Internet use and time use: The importance of multitasking. Time & Society17(2–3): 283–318.
18.
LaschC (1977) Haven in a Heartless World. New York: Basic Books.
19.
LongJSFreeseJ (2006) Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition.College Station, TX: Stata Press.
20.
MaddenMJonesS (2008) Networked Workers. Washington, DC: PEW Internet & American Life Project.
21.
MazmanianM (2013) Avoiding the trap of constant connectivity: When congruent frames allow for heterogeneous practices. Academy of Management Journal56(5): 1225–1250.
22.
MazmanianMOrlikowskiWJYatesJ (2013) The autonomy paradox: The implications of mobile email devices for knowledge professionals. Organization Science24(5): 1337–1357.
23.
MoenPLamJAmmonsSet al. (2013) Time work by overworked professionals: Strategies in response to the stress of higher status. Work and Occupations40(2): 79–114.
24.
Ofcom (Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) (2015) The Communications Market Report. 6August. London: Ofcom.
