Drawing the Line: Coping with Digital Stressors in Remote Work

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a sudden and unprecedented shift to remote work, forcing organizations and employees to adapt to new working modalities. As hybrid work becomes the norm in the post-pandemic world, understanding the factors that support or hinder employee adjustment to remote work is crucial. This study investigates how knowledge workers adapt to remote work by examining the impact of two stressors—professional isolation and digital invasion—on remote work adjustment. Grounded in cognitive appraisal theory and the individual resilience literature, the study explores how boundary management strategies and planning alleviate these dysfunctional impacts. A field study was conducted among 389 employees in a multinational video game company operating globally. Results show that professional isolation and digital invasion are negatively associated with remote work adjustment. However, employees who adopt segmentation-based boundary strategies are better able to mitigate the negative effects of digital invasion. Moreover, planning positively contributes to remote work adjustment. This research offers both theoretical and practical insights into how individual coping strategies can facilitate successful adaptation in the evolving landscape of remote and hybrid work.