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Staying Connected to Work After Hours Is Good – Up to a Point


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woman on laptop computer late at night

After-hours connectivity can reach a point of diminishing returns.

Credit: Getty Images

There's a "sweet spot" for how much employees should be digitally connected to their jobs after hours, a new study suggests.

Some work after hours – like checking email – makes employees feel more connected with colleagues and supervisors and makes them more productive, results show.

But after a certain point, digital connectivity to the office turns into "too much of a good thing," says Jia "Jasmine" Hu, professor of management at Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, and corresponding author of the study published in the journal Personnel Psychology.

Employees who reported more than moderate levels of connectivity were more likely to feel burned out at work or fatigued when they got up in the morning. That tended to have a negative effect on job performance ratings from supervisors, the study says.

From Ohio State University
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