Work

What does it mean to be present at work? Negotiating attention, distraction and presence in working from home

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: What it means to be present is an important yet underexamined geographical problem. Owing to the recent surge in working from home, which has forced a rethink of the affordances of both face‐to‐face and virtual presence, we contend that the time is right for a re‐evaluation of this foundational geographical concept. Our paper begins by synthesising existing geographical work to outline three ways that geographers have considered the concept of presence: as representational, as mediated, and as attentional. We propose that the latter is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of presence. In response, and drawing on fieldwork conducted in Australia, we explore how people who work from home navigate attentional presence in three contexts: work tasks, interactions with colleagues, and engagement with others. These three contexts involve different interplays of attention and, importantly, distraction. We argue that the dissociative dimensions of being present have far‐reaching political and ethical consequences, and they can provide us with clues about how socio‐spatial relationships concerning work and home life are currently being reconfigured.

Source: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

DOI: 10.1111/tran.70000

Authors: David Bissell, Elisabetta Crovara, Andrew Gorman‐Murray, Elizabeth Straughan

Institutions: The University of Melbourne, Western Sydney University

Language: English

Topic: Work-Family Balance Challenges

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,070

Funder: Australian Research Council