Maya had just finished her workday at home and looked forward to a relaxed evening with her family. However, as she joined her husband, Michael (who also worked from home) and their two young children, her smartphone continued to buzz with work notifications. As Maya struggled to balance professional responsibilities and family commitments, she felt as though her work life had invaded her personal space. Michael faced the same challenge, and as they both juggled professional duties and family responsibilities, their frustration mounted.

Their predicament, outlined in new research from UNSW Business School, exemplifies the challenge faced by couples who both work from home in an era of permeable technology boundaries.

The blurred lines between work and home

The rise of work-from-home, accelerated by the pandemic, has fundamentally reshaped how professionals manage their work and family lives. While technology enables greater flexibility and autonomy, it also creates new challenges. Work concerns increasingly penetrate the family domain, blurring previously distinct boundaries between professional and personal responsibilities. These frustrations affect not only work performance, but also seep into family dynamics, with more than a third of couples reporting that working from home strained their relationships. The stress and strain from the family relationships invariably seep into the work domain, creating an endless loop.

The problem becomes particularly acute when both partners work from home. Unlike situations where one partner works in an office, dual-remote households face unique challenges. Both individuals have to navigate porous boundaries between professional and personal life: they need to coordinate video calls, manage office space, handle household responsibilities, and find personal time together throughout the day. Each partner has to manage intrusions from their own workplace while maintaining boundaries for their partner’s work.

Understanding the research behind remote work challenges

Manju Ahuja, Scientia Professor in the School of Information Systems and Technology Management at UNSW Business School, investigated these challenges together with Assistant Professor Rui Sundrup from the University of Louisville and Associate Professor Massimo Magni from Università Bocconi.

Their comprehensive study, Work-Family Frustration When You and Your Partner Both Work from Home: The Role of ICT Permeability, Planning, and Gender, is based on a 10-day diary study with 117 participants who lived with their partners while both worked from home full-time. Participants responded to three daily online surveys over consecutive workdays, providing real-time insights into their experiences. This methodology enabled researchers to capture daily, real-time fluctuations in work-family dynamics and to reduce the retrospective bias common in traditional surveys.

The study focused on “ICT permeability”, otherwise known as “tech intrusion”: when information and communication technologies pierce the once-impenetrable barrier between work and home, allowing psychological or behavioural aspects of work to intrude into home life. Researchers examined how this intrusion affected after-work frustration and its downstream impacts on both job productivity and partner conflict.

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This new study follows up on Prof. Ahuja’s previous research on the psychological and relational costs of working from home, despite the benefits of flexibility and avoiding the daily commute. “This overall stream of research explores the double-edged sword of technology (such as Zoom and Teams) and anytime-anywhere connectivity,” Prof. Ahuja explained.

“The previous research found that, while employees reported significantly improved productivity, they also tended to suffer from stress-related physiological symptoms (like headaches), and their relationships were adversely affected. With this new study, we wanted to examine whether these effects are exacerbated when both partners work from home. We were trying to understand what employees can do if they wish to maintain some form of work-life balance in the face of relentless connectivity and constant negotiations of home and work tasks with their partners.”

The gender divide in remote work frustration

The research reveals significant gender differences in how tech intrusion affects after-work frustration. Women experience greater frustration when work intrudes on family time, even when both partners work from home. Women are often responsible for invisible labour – unnoticed and undervalued work at home, including household chores, childcare, and emotional support for family members, according to other research cited in the paper. This additional burden intensifies after-work frustration for women when technology enables work to intrude into family life. This finding contradicts previous assumptions that flexible work helps women balance work and family responsibilities.

The study found that women continue to prioritise family roles and carry disproportionately high burdens of household and childcare responsibilities, consistent with social expectations. When work-related interruptions prevent them from fulfilling these family responsibilities, women experience more guilt and negative emotions compared to men. The heightened psychological burden depletes women’s self-control resources more quickly, leading to increased frustration levels.

According to the researchers, covid-19 was a "great remote working experiment" on a global scale. "While the pandemic has passed, the work-from-home phenomenon has become embedded in work structures, and employees clearly do not wish to return to the office five days a week," said Prof. Ahuja. "We know very little about its effects on work outcomes, and even less about its effects on relational outcomes."

The productivity paradox

Perhaps the most counterintuitive finding emerged from the examination of work outcomes. While after-work frustration increases conflict with partners, it also correlates with higher job productivity as perceived by the employee. When individuals find themselves in a state of after-work frustration, the research said they are likely to choose to spend their limited cognitive resources where they perceive a higher likelihood of success (which is in the work domain), rather than on the relationship.

Work serves as a constructive outlet for individuals seeking fulfilment beyond their personal lives. When family responsibilities conflict with work tasks, many people perceive the work domain as non-negotiable and more urgent. Rather than depleting resources uniformly, frustration triggers a strategic reallocation towards domains where success feels more attainable and emotional struggles are less salient. This strategic reallocation of resources likely represents an attempt to manage limited self-control reserves efficiently.

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“It is important to discuss the ways in which remote work affects work productivity in a meaningful and nuanced manner,” said Prof. Ahuja. “While it is important to look at the short-term productivity gains, it is equally important to look at the effects on the overall lives of employees because personal and professional get quite entangled in remote work settings.”

The research raises the concern that while after-work frustration might boost job productivity in the short term, the sustainability of this increase remains questionable. Prolonged frustration will inevitably and ultimately seep into the workplace and affect long-term productivity and creativity, and negatively impact employee wellbeing overall.

Planning as a solution to technology overload

The study identifies planning behaviour as a crucial mitigating factor. Engaging partners in joint daily planning (involving goal setting and task prioritisation) helps individuals manage the negative effects of ICT permeability. “Planning helps separate work life and family life by allocating prescribed time for each domain, facilitating a more effective distribution of attention and energy,” the researchers found.

Planning works because it creates clear boundaries and expectations. When individuals make detailed plans with their partners, they can allocate their limited resources more effectively, reducing frustrations from resource depletion. Planning also reduces the cognitive effort required for constantly making decisions and choices in real time. Advance notice of work intrusions allows individuals to prepare physically and psychologically, likely reducing frustration. Those who engage in planning behaviours experience weaker effects of ICT permeability on after-work frustration.

The research suggests that partners who share their schedules can better coordinate plans and adjust activities to avoid miscommunication. Identifying ways to share to-do lists, digital calendars, or structured plans is instrumental in managing the interface between professional and personal domains.

Practical strategies for managing remote work boundaries

Based on the research findings, there are strategies that are important for individuals and organisations managing dual-remote households. Individuals should schedule technology-free times and zones, and engaging in non-technology activities can reduce familial discord and enhance family intimacy. Mechanisms such as digital curfews, scheduled breaks, and mindfulness practices can also help individuals manage boundaries and alleviate after-work frustration.

Supervisors also need to recognise that ICT permeability can lead to after-work frustration among employees. Training employees in planning techniques can enhance time management skills and reduce family conflict. Cultivating a workplace culture that empowers employees to communicate their availability within teams is essential. For example, employees can block out personal time on shared work calendars to reduce interruptions during family or leisure activities.

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The research suggested organisations should develop work-from-home policies that grant employees control over flexible work arrangements while establishing clear boundaries between work and family life. For example, policies that ensure non-urgent work meetings are not scheduled after 6pm or during weekends help protect family time. It is also critical to employees’ wellbeing and work-life balance, and organisations should consider limits on synchronous meetings and designate quiet work hours to facilitate uninterrupted focus.

“Given that this is a new phenomenon, supervisors are not typically trained or experienced in managing remote workers,” said Prof. Ahuja. “It would behove organisations to consider developing training programs for supervisors so that they can effectively manage employees they do not see on a daily basis, and view employees' lives holistically. This is important in managing remote work because personal seeps into the professional outcomes much more than it did when we all went to the office every day.”