"I'd sit at home and do work emails": how tablets affect the work-life balance of office workers

Advances in technology, in particular the widespread use of mobile devices, have changed work practices and transformed our everyday lives. However, as well as facilitating new ways for combining work and personal life, these new technologies can also blur the boundary between the two domains. In recent years tablets have become popular, first as leisure devices, and lately as business tools helping people to stay connected with work anywhere, anytime. Through an online questionnaire supported by a qualitative study, we investigated why, how, and where office workers use tablets and what impact those devices may have on work-life balance. The results show that, while useful for both home and work tasks, tablets have the potential to blur the boundary between work and personal life by encouraging and enabling people to complete work tasks during home time and vice versa. This could have negative impacts on work-life balance.