Digital Balance, Digital Exhaustion, and the Complexities of Work-Related Connectivity Regulation

Due to digital connectivity, contemporary employees’ work and related experiences have changed in many ways. While connectivity can improve efficiency and well-being by enhancing workers’ autonomy and flexibility, it can simultaneously increase stress, escalate connectivity expectations, and hamper work-life boundary management. This study focuses on connectivity and its related well-being experiences, adopting and developing the conceptualization of connectivity regulation. Qualitative data were collected through an interview-diary-interview method and iteratively analyzed. The findings suggest that employees proactively and reactively regulate their connectivity depending on their boundary management, task prioritization, and role demands within the organization. Notably, employees who adopt pre-planned, proactive connectivity regulation strategies experience both digital exhaustion or digital balance similarly to those who adopt an adaptable and flexible reactive approach to connectivity regulation. The study furthers the understanding of the complexity of employees’ connectivity-related experiences and contributes to theory and practice of employee well-being and digital connectivity in organizations.