Is it possible to set boundaries between work and personal life? That’s a question that’s interested me for some time.
During the recent earthquake VolCan, the charity I manage, was operated from my home, by telephone and Facebook. This was entirely my choice, and it was for one week in a civil emergency. What if unforeseen circumstances meant it had to continue indefinitely?
In fact I run a small celebrancy business from my home, but again this is my choice and I can set limits. For ten years I was a Justice of the Peace with people phoning and knocking on the door at all hours of the day and night. Because I’m centrally located I got an average of four or five calls every day. The constant interruptions meant I had to physically leave home to get a break, and after ten years I chose to ‘retire’. (I was also disillusioned by the lack of support from the J.P.s’ association for any discussion of setting limits, self care, or the needs of volunteers.)
I’m aware that new technology means that many workers are obliged to be on call 24 hours a day as this story from SocialMediaNZ shows:
My place: Businesses and the relationships we form are increasingly global now and the report notes that the workplace will become more virtual with “meetings occurring across time zones and organizations and with participants who barely know each other, working on swarms attacking rapidly emerging problems.” My place is an interesting concept where many employees won’t have a company provided desk or physical office and work will happen 24/7 and the “lines between personal, professional, social and family matters, along with organization subjects, will disappear.”
So far I’ve managed to restrict my cellphone use to emergency only, but lately other calls/texts are creeping in. Currently I use my camera more often than my cellphone. How long will that last, I wonder?
When I meet with Maori, even though I’m representing VolCan, my whakapapa and whanau are seen to be there with me. Te ao Maori does not distinguish between personal and professional.
I’m lucky to have paid work I’m passionate about. As with others who work in the voluntary/charity sector part of my reward is the love factor, and I’m more than willing to promote my organisation in social situations, and do odd tasks in my ‘own’ time. The difficulty of setting limits between personal and professional is a subject that often sparks discussion among not-for-profit managers. I write the monthly VolCan newsletter, am planning an article along these lines, and would love to have more discussion about it. What do you think?
“Can we keep bounds ‘twixt work and play?
Is this impossible today?”
Ruth's Reflections 
It seems to me that technology is only a small part of the issue. I suspect one reason people feel they have to be available 24/7 is because they know their jobs are vulnerable, and so they feel they can’t say no to anything, whether it’s availability at an inconvenient time, or doing a task they’d rather not do. Many other people aren’t employed in the traditional sense, they are contractors, and so again feel the need to be available whenever a potential customer wants them. But this technology has such positive aspects too. Not just because in emergencies (natural or tube-union made!) one can work at home. I know very many people who work at home one or two days a week, either for domestic reasons, or because their commute is so lengthy; the latter possibly less of an issue in NZ, but the former I am sure is exactly the same. Working at home, via phone and laptop, enables women to come back from maternity leave and keep up in a professional job when they might otherwise have to give it up entirely. It also allows the disabled to work – at least two of the lawyers where are work suffer from ME, so being able to work at home, at whatever hour they have the energy to do so, is what makes it possible for them to work at all. If you are receiving that sort of advantage, most people see working outside standard hours, or at least being available then, as a small price to pay.
I wonder if there was ever a real boundary between professional and personal life. Isn’t the attitude of the JPs’ Association the way it is precisely because they are a bit old-fashioned, and expect duty to the community always to come first (perhaps they also assume all JPs are retired and have nothing much else to do!)? Isn’t it more the fact the technology has allowed the physical and geographical barriers to come down (a true blessing in NZ, I would have thought!) rather than that social barrier?
What precisely is the concern with the cellphone? What’s the problem with other calls “creeping in”? Do you think a cellphone must always be for business use, and the home land line for personal use? I doubt anyone under the age of about 50 would recognise cellphone use as any sort of issue. I have a landline for 2 reasons – (1) because banks, insurers etc still have a hang-up about them, and are reluctant to deal with you if you don’t have one, they assume you are transient, and (2) because I need the physical line for the broadband. (It used to be (3) so mother could call me, but then she learnt to Skype!) The only personal calls I ever get on it are occasionally from church friends who are old and don’t want to use a mobile.
Love,Lx
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Louise – good to get your comments from a different perspective. I think the dilemma I and other n-f-p managers face is being able to get any break from work. While we are passionate about what we do, we also need a work/life balance to stay healthy, and that seems to be hard for many to get these days. I think it may be even harder for volunteers working in senior n-f-p roles.
I totally agree that working from home is great for those with domestic/health reasons. The odd times I choose to work from home (excluding earthquake emergencies) it’s so I can get away from constant interruptions in the office.
Re the cellphone – the other calls ‘creeping in’ tend to be work ones, and part of my reluctance is the fact that cellphone use seems to be on an ‘all or nothing’ basis, and I’m not sure I want it to be ‘all’. My local friends still use landline in preference, although they use text too, and often e-mail. I’m very aware that the more I use text and skype, the less I need a landline, except for the broadband connection.
Love, Rx
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