Legitimizing "Deep Work": Collaboration Norms Can Reduce The Perceived Burden of Interruptions and Promote Employee Wellbeing

Hybrid and remote work arrangements can produce coordination challenges, which are reflected by an increase in meetings and emails (DeFillips et al. 2020). Increased digital communication can reduce the amount of time that employees have to complete deep work (Chauvin, Choudhury & Fang, 2020), limit attentional focus (Gajendran et al. 2022), and undermine wellbeing (Kushlev & Dunn, 2015). Given these consequences, it is critical to develop interventions that effectively minimize within-workday distractions. Research has focused on boundary setting between work and personal life (Ashforth et al. 2000; Nippert-Eng, 1996). Here, we take a novel approach by exploring boundary setting within the workday. First, we conducted two field experiments in a sales and technology organization, respectively. Across both studies, we tested the causal impact of encouraging employees to establish collaboration norms that legitimized focused work, such as by scheduling time to work on important tasks during the workday, and communicating these focused blocks of time with their team. Across both studies, focused time causally improved employees’ feelings of control over time (in Study 2 – via a reduction in interruptions) and increased wellbeing as compared to a control condition. In a follow-up correlational study, these strategies were more effective when they were set at the team vs. individual level. While time management research often provides strategies for individuals (Whillans, 2020), these data highlight the benefit of implementing these strategies—and more broadly—of considering time as a collective, team level resource.