Central European Business Review 2023, 12(4):123-134 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.335

Re-Establishing Home and Work Boundaries by Pseudo-Commuting Whilst Working from Home

Michal Beņo ORCID...1
1 Prague City University, School of Business, Prague, Czech Republic, michal.b@praguecityuniversity.cz

Over the past decade, modern collaborative tools and technologies have changed the way we think about e-work. Suddenly, this kind of work was not just a perk but a necessity for almost everybody. The pandemic has accelerated the interaction between social life and e-work. E-work has become extremely popular. The purpose of this study is to find out whether "pseudo-commuting" can pave the way to a work-from-home balance and increase productivity. Special attention is paid to the e-workforce, workers who are experienced in choosing their route to work and the place for work and have implemented various post-pandemic routines. Interviews were conducted with eight workers from different European Union countries to collect primary data for this study. On the basis of these data, a pseudo-commute (an imaginary commute) can help re-establish the work-home boundaries. Overall, this means setting boundaries between those two elements by going through, in one’s mind, the thoughts, events and experiences associated with a commute. All respondents noticed a general sense of increased well-being. In short, this modern commuting mode is an opportunity to remix the old commute with new rituals. It creates a feeling of taking back what has been removed by the pandemic. Pseudo-commuting is probably here to stay.
Implications for a Central European audience: Pre-pandemic morning routines have a massive impact on physical and mental well-being. Before the pandemic, an average commute was less than 30 minutes. When the workforce is not able to detach from work, there is a risk of exhaustion and burnout. Pseudo-commuting, however, can pave the way to a work-from-home balance and increase productivity. This qualitative study may serve as a tool for remixing the old commute with new rituals in the modern working environment.

Keywords: pseudo-commute; work from home; productivity; balance between work and home; European Union
JEL classification: J22, R23, R40

Received: January 19, 2023; Revised: March 31, 2023; Accepted: April 10, 2023; Prepublished online: June 5, 2023; Published: September 29, 2023  Show citation

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Beņo, M. (2023). Re-Establishing Home and Work Boundaries by Pseudo-Commuting Whilst Working from Home. Central European Business Review, 12(4), 123-134. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.335
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