"I check my emails on the toilet": Email Practices and Work-Home Boundary Management

Email is widely used as a means of communication, a task management system and an archive and it often seems impossible to live without it. Our always-online society expects us to be available 24/7 at the cost of potentially blurring the boundaries between work and personal life. Furthermore, mobile and handheld devices have made it even easier to be connected and therefore increased the sense of needing to be available to respond at any time. Whilst research to date has focused on identifying email practices on the desktop, little has been done to understand whether and how the introduction of mobile devices has changed our way of handling emails. In this paper, we describe preliminary results from an interview study that explored in particular the role of mobile devices in email management and work-home boundary management. We found that mobile technology impacts even on the most private of non-work moments. We provide examples of the ways in which technology supports frequent switching between work and non-work contexts, and demonstrate the strategies that people develop in order to manage these boundaries, by using what we call micro-boundaries (e.g. having two email apps on a phone)

Personalised email tools: a solution to email overload?

The stress resulting from the daily demands of email exchange and management has been labelled email overload. The extent to which individuals are affected by email overload has much to do with personal, cultural, and contextual differences. However, in general people are inefficient at dealing with email and could potentially reduce the stress associated with it if they changed their behaviour. In this paper, we review some of the strategies offered in the literature, as well as some email tools that have been developed to help people manage their inboxes. We point out the benefits and disadvantages of them, suggesting that adaptive approaches might be more effective at facilitating email behaviour changes than fixed one-size-fits-all solutions. We argue that the adaptation should be the result of personalisation (controlled by the system) and customisation (controlled by the user) because these processes support behaviour change in different ways

Designing for digital wellbeing: A research & practice agenda

Traditionally, many consumer-focused technologies have been designed to maximize user engagement with their products and services. More recently, many technology companies have begun to introduce digital wellbeing features, such as for managing time spent and for encouraging breaks in use. These are in the context of, and likely in response to, renewed concerns in the media about technology dependency and even addiction. The promotion of technology abstinence is also increasingly widespread, e.g., via digital detoxes. Given that digital technologies are an important and valuable feature of many people's lives, digital wellbeing features are arguably preferable to abstinence

De novo single-nucleotide and copy number variation in discordant monozygotic twins reveals disease-related genes

Recent studies have demonstrated genetic differences between monozygotic (MZ) twins. To test the hypothesis that early post-twinning mutational events associate with phenotypic discordance, we investigated a cohort of 13 twin pairs (n = 26) discordant for various clinical phenotypes using whole-exome sequencing and screened for copy number variation (CNV). We identified a de novo variant in PLCB1, a gene involved in the hydrolysis of lipid phosphorus in milk from dairy cows, associated with lactase non-persistence, and a variant in the mitochondrial complex I gene MT-ND5 associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We also found somatic variants in multiple genes (TMEM225B, KBTBD3, TUBGCP4, TFIP11) in another MZ twin pair discordant for ALS. Based on the assumption that discordance between twins could be explained by a common variant with variable penetrance or expressivity, we screened the twin samples for known pathogenic variants that are shared and identified a rare deletion overlapping ARHGAP11B, in the twin pair manifesting with either schizotypal personality disorder or schizophrenia. Parent-offspring trio analysis was implemented for two twin pairs to assess potential association of variants of parental origin with susceptibility to disease. We identified a de novo variant in RASD2 shared by 8-year-old male twins with a suspected diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) manifesting as different traits. A de novo CNV duplication was also identified in these twins overlapping CD38, a gene previously implicated in ASD. In twins discordant for Tourette's syndrome, a paternally inherited stop loss variant was detected in AADAC, a known candidate gene for the disorder

Foxp3 and Treg cells in HIV-1 infection and immuno-pathogenesis

FoxP3+CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells are implicated in a number of pathologic processes including elevated levels in cancers and infectious diseases, and reduced levels in autoimmune diseases. Treg cells are activated to modulate immune responses to avoid over-reactive immunity. However, conflicting findings are reported regarding relative levels of Treg cells during HIV-1 infection and disease progression. The role of Treg cells in HIV-1 diseases (aberrant immune activation) is poorly understood due to lack of a robust model. We summarize here the regulation and function of Foxp3 in Treg cells and in modulating HIV-1 replication. Based on recent findings from SIV/monkey and HIV/humanized mouse models, a model of the dual role of Treg cells in HIV-1 infection and immuno-pathogenesis is discussed

Eworklife: developing effective strategies for remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic means governments have advised citizens to engage in “social distancing” measures, which include working from home. Many people have had to learn how to work from home and develop effective strategies in a very short period. This especially rapid move to remote working is unprecedented, so we do not know how this shift is affecting people’s working lives. We developed a mixed-methods survey and a series of in-depth interviews, through which we investigated the new challenges for people in managing digital self-control, maintaining productivity and work-life balance that have surfaced during the COVID-19 crisis. We also catalogued the strategies participants adopted through the first stages of lockdown in response to these challenges. From this, we draw research and policy implications for supporting neophyte remote workers when managing digital selfcontrol, productivity, and work-life balance during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

Evaluation of a novel intervention to reduce burnout in doctors-in-training using self-care and digital wellbeing strategies: a mixed-methods pilot

BACKGROUND: Burnout for doctors-in-training is increasingly cause for concern. Our objectives were to assess the feasibility, acceptability and impact of a novel intervention to reduce burnout and improve wellbeing. This is the first wellbeing intervention for medical doctors to include strategies for work-life boundary management and digital wellbeing. METHODS: Twenty-two doctors participated in face-to-face workshops which included group discussion of challenges experienced and strategies to enhance self-care and wellbeing. A pre-post-test mixed-methods evaluation was undertaken. Questionnaire measures were the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and the boundary control subscale of the Work-Life Indicator (i.e., the degree of perception of control of the boundaries between work and personal life). Paired t-tests examined whether there were statistically significant differences. Eleven doctors also participated in post-intervention semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The intervention was well-received, with all trainees finding the workshop useful and saying they would recommend it to others. At baseline most participants had scores indicative of burnout on both the disengagement (82%) and exhaustion (82%) subscales of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. One month post-intervention, participants had a statistically significant reduction in burnout (both disengagement and exhaustion) and improvement in boundary control. Wellbeing scores also improved, but differences were not statistically significant. Qualitative analysis indicated participants had welcomed a safe space to discuss stressors and many had implemented digital wellbeing strategies to manage their smartphone technology, and increased self-care such as mindfulness practice and walking in green space. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention reduced burnout and improved boundary control. We suggest that having protected time for doctors to share personal experiences, adopt digital wellbeing and self-care strategies are effective tools to support doctors' wellbeing and should be investigated further

Designing for digital wellbeing: A research & practice agenda

© 2019 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Traditionally, many consumer-focused technologies have been designed to maximize user engagement with their products and services. More recently, many technology companies have begun to introduce digital wellbeing features, such as for managing time spent and for encouraging breaks in use. These are in the context of, and likely in response to, renewed concerns in the media about technology dependency and even addiction. The promotion of technology abstinence is also increasingly widespread, e.g., via digital detoxes. Given that digital technologies are an important and valuable feature of many people's lives, digital wellbeing features are arguably preferable to abstinence