All this information is supposed to help reduce homeowners’ anxiety about leaving what may be their biggest asset. But in the age of constant interruptions from work, social media and the news, a shout-out from your Ring doorbell that the mail was delivered just adds to the glut of pings. Americans check their phones an average of 80 times a day while on vacation, about once every 12 minutes, according to a 2018 survey by Asurion, a device insurance and warranty company. But if the point of a vacation is to take a break from life’s responsibilities, a barrage of push alerts about package deliveries hardly helps.

“All these things take us away from ourselves and from those closest to us, and put us in a world where we’re connecting with our home heating system and we’re not connecting with the person across the table,” said Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.”

In a time when we may feel like we have little control over the events happening around us, the tools on our phones can provide clarity and order. The basement is dry. The porch light flicked on at dusk. And the only thing moving in the backyard is the same stray cat that always triggers the motion-detection camera. But all this information, as reassuring as it may be, also denies us the chance to relinquish control of the uninspiring tasks that consume our daily lives.

Unlike other interruptions, like those from a boss at work, which intrude despite our best efforts, alerts from a smart home are disruptions of our own making. We buy the equipment and set our phones to dole out constant reminders at the beach that responsibilities continue elsewhere. Rather than ask a neighbor to check on the house while we’re gone, as we might have done a decade ago, we take the burden with us.

“This is about a new tethering to your home, and to your inventory, and to your anxiety,” Dr. Turkle said. “It never lets you be off.”