Redefining Cyberloafing in a Blended Life Era: A Systematic Literature Review and Conceptual Model for Flex-work Contexts

Cyberloafing that is traditionally defined as non-work use of digital technologies by employees during working hours, has been widely studied in conventional office-based settings. However, the rapid expansion of flex-work arrangements has fundamentally altered how work is organized, blurring temporal, spatial, and psychological boundaries between work and non-work lives. In such contexts, existing definitions of cyberloafing grounded in fixed working hours and clear work–life separation are increasingly inadequate. Thus, this study addresses a critical definition gap by conducting a systematic literature review of 22 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2025. Building on PRISMA-2020 guidelines, the review synthesizes how cyberloafing has been conceptualized and operationalized across different work arrangements. The findings reveal four dominant definitional clusters: time-anchored, resource-anchored, role-anchored, and recovery-oriented, and demonstrate a persistent misalignment between prevailing definitions and contemporary flex-work realities. Building on this synthesis, the study proposes a revised, role-sensitive & context-sensitive definition of cyberloafing, and an integrative conceptual model that distinguishes role-interfering cyberloafing from context-neutral and integration-oriented personal ICT use. The paper advances theory by aligning cyberloafing research with work–life integration and boundary perspectives which in turn offers clear implications for future measurement, empirical research, and managerial practice in flexible and blended work contexts.