Nearly Half of Belgians Bring Work Home: 'The Arrival of Children Can Reinforce This Need'

In Belgium, a significant portion of the workforce navigates the blurred lines between professional and personal life. A recent survey by Protime reveals that 44% of workers are comfortable with occasional overlap between their work and private spheres, while a near-equal 43% prefer to maintain a distinct separation.

This difference in preference impacts how workers feel about their work-life balance. 58% of respondents reported feeling frustrated when work thoughts intrude on their personal time, whereas 35% see no issue with such occasional overlaps. However, neuroscientist Katelijn Nijsmans points out that these are not absolute categories. "Most workers are not entirely in one or the other of these extremes," she explained. "We all fall somewhere on a continuum between the integrator and separator profiles, which determines our need for disconnection. This preference is not fixed; it can evolve with circumstances or life stages. The arrival of children, for example, can strengthen the need for flexibility to better balance work and private life."

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Most workers are not entirely in one or the other of these extremes. We all fall somewhere on a continuum between the integrator and separator profiles, which determines our need for disconnection. This preference is not fixed; it can evolve with circumstances or life stages. The arrival of children, for example, can strengthen the need for flexibility to better balance work and private life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly accelerated this blurring of boundaries. Remote work, which was practiced by 18.9% of Belgian employees sometimes or usually in 2019, surged to 34.8% by 2025. This widespread adoption of working from home, except for a dip in 2021 due to health restrictions, has significantly altered the traditional separation between professional and personal life.

Despite the challenges, work time tracking tools can cater to both preferences, according to Florent Bovicelli, a spokesperson for Protime. For 'integrators,' these tools help understand how time is allocated between work and private activities. For 'separators,' they provide a concrete way to delineate the workday and disconnect more easily.

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For integrators, whose professional and private spheres intertwine more, this allows them to better understand how they allocate their time, whether it is dedicated to work or private activities. Separators can, in turn, rely on this tool to concretely delimit their workday and disconnect more easily.