Psychological Detachment Theory

In Sabine Sonnentag’s article “Psychological Detachment From Work During Leisure Time: The Benefits of Mentally Disengaging From Work” she argues the benefits of psychological detachment. The benefits outlined in the text range from benefits for individuals as well as for employers. Detachment theory is also explained to affect individuals as well as those surrounding them. She uses information to explain what makes detachment hard for others and also what makes detachment easier for others. In addition to explaining the benefits, she concludes by explaining what future research should be explored to add evidence to this theory.
Psychological detachment is a theory that refers to people being able to leave their work at their jobs. By this,

This theory of detachment is backed by studies from organizational, health, and family psychology. The main focus of the theory is based on two aspects associated with forgetting about work. One, stay away from doing any type of work related activities when not at work and, two, do not think about anything related to work tasks when not at work. The text uses many aspects to support the author’s point that psychological detachment theory is beneficial. To support her claims about the main focus she explains four main concepts: higher satisfaction, better work days, better work environments, and more proactive days. It is found that higher levels of satisfaction tend to be associated with people who are able to relieve themselves from general thoughts about work. Also, it is seen that those who detach from work tend to have overall better days at work. As for groups, if workers detach when not at work their work environments appear to be better. Better days at work account for workers to be more proactive throughout their work days. Effects seen in studies on psychological detachment theory vary based on individuals. This is because certain people do not know how to detach or simply are not able because of heavy workloads or extensive expectations set by

There have been numerous occasions where I have felt that I was drowning in a pool of everything that needed to be done and I can say that the only relief was to step away even if it was something crucial. For example, I currently cut my hours for work and now it seems that I have the time for school but not the time to do certain work tasks. There are moments now when I have caught myself ready to scream at work because my email is overflowing, paperwork is growing, and my phone keeps continuously ringing. I am huge on meeting deadlines so I tend to try to stay at work later and stress about what I will be returning to the next day. On my off days, I would dread having to return because I just knew that I was returning to so much work. One day, while I was working, my coworker explained to me that work is work and life is life. He explained that work would always be there and pushing a project back for a minute or two was not the worst thing in the world. As I slowly began to do this I felt so relieved. Going to work after my days off was not agonizing and I began to be able to engage more with those around