In this week’s Inclusion Insights, we explore new evidence showing that even brief, voluntary use of work technology in the evening can quietly erode employees’ capacity to recover, with measurable consequences for next-day well-being.
Research by Schlachter and colleagues (2025) published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, examines how digital habits outside working hours affect detachment, mood and overall resource replenishment. As remote and hybrid work continue to reshape expectations about availability, the findings offer timely guidance for leaders seeking to build healthier, more sustainable working cultures.
The authors conducted a five-day daily diary study with 187 employees. Each evening, participants reported on any voluntary work-related technology use. They also reflected on psychological detachment, the ability to switch off from work. At bedtime and again the next morning they rated their momentary well-being across four affective states based on the circumplex model of affect. The study also captured perceived control during nonwork time and sleep quality.
The first key finding is that choosing to work digitally in the evening has a direct impact on detachment. On days when individuals used technology for work after hours, they found it harder to redirect their attention away from work. Detachment is an active, resource-intensive process that supports recovery, so lower detachment in turn predicted reduced positive affect and increased negative affect at bedtime. Those patterns then carried through to the next morning, indicating a clear spillover from evening technology use into next-day well-being.
A second important finding concerns personal agency. The study shows that feeling in control of one’s nonwork time can buffer the impact of evening technology use. When individuals felt they had autonomy over their evening, the indirect effects on well-being were substantially reduced. This highlights the value of nonwork choice and the sense of being able to shape one’s own time.
Sleep quality also mattered. High-quality sleep disrupted the loss cycle that can follow evening technology use, particularly in relation to next-morning negative affect. While it did not change the carryover of reduced positive affect, it significantly weakened the link between bedtime negative affect and next-day negative affect. This reinforces the importance of sleep as a restorative process that replenishes self-regulatory resources.
Taken together, the findings present a balanced picture. Voluntary technology use can help individuals manage workload pressures or complete unfinished tasks, but it does come at a cost if used without consideration. The study suggests that leaders can support healthier habits by encouraging thoughtful boundary-setting, promoting digital etiquette, and reinforcing the legitimacy of personal control over nonwork time. Creating team norms that recognise different preferences and enabling people to disconnect when they need to are vital steps in protecting well-being.
You can read the original article here.
Q&A: What does this mean for inclusion and organisational practice?
Q: How does evening technology use relate to inclusion?
We know from previous evidence that inclusion and wellbeing are closely connected. When people feel included, they experience greater psychological safety and are more able to regulate their cognitive and emotional resources. This study shows that evening technology use reduces those same resources by making it harder to switch off. If certain groups feel more pressure to be constantly available, they will also experience disproportionate strain, undermining equitable access to rest and recovery.
Q: Why should leaders view this as an inclusion issue rather than only a wellbeing one?
Recovery is not distributed equally. Employees with caregiving responsibilities, health conditions, or less control over their nonwork time may be more vulnerable to the spillover effects identified in this study. When boundary-blurring becomes normalised, it can create hidden expectations that disadvantage those without the privilege of flexible time. Addressing this is therefore part of creating fair, inclusive working cultures.
Q: What practical actions support both inclusion and healthier digital habits?
We can help teams by clarifying expectations around after-hours communication, reducing ambiguity, and normalising asynchronous working where possible. Establishing shared norms around response times, protecting genuine choice over nonwork time, and modelling visible detachment as leaders all contribute to a culture where everyone can recover well. This strengthens inclusion because people feel respected, trusted and able to bring their full selves to work the next day.
Q: How does strengthening inclusion improve the outcomes highlighted in this research?
Inclusive environments reduce cognitive load by increasing belonging and predictability. When people feel valued and secure, they are better able to detach from work, sleep well and regulate mood. This means they are less susceptible to the loss cycles described in the study. In short, inclusion acts as a protective condition that supports sustainable performance, healthier boundaries and more resilient teams.
