Browsing by Subject "task performance"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    “Did you have a good weekend?” A week-level diary study examining the relationship between weekend recovery and weekday performance
    (2021) van Wyngaarden, Georgia; Bagraim, Jeffrey
    Sufficient rest breaks are needed for optimal performance in traditional workplaces, but it is unclear how working with a loosely structured work schedule impacts recovery. Students have temporal flexibility and serve as a good proxy for all groups who work unstructured work schedules. Since most students and employees use the weekend to recover, this study investigated the relationship between recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, and mastery) over the weekend and the state of being recovered on the following Monday. Further, the relationship between the state of being recovered on Monday and weekday performance indicators (i.e., task performance and personal initiative) was investigated. Data was collected over three consecutive weeks from a cohort of first-year university students (N = 106) using a quantitative diary study design. This study administered seven surveys (i.e., a personal data survey once, a pre-weekend survey three times, and a postweekend survey three times). After three weeks, 66 participants (N = 66) had completed all the surveys at the person level, yielding 148 matched observations at the week-level. Multilevel modelling showed that weekend relaxation positively predicted the state of being recovered on Monday. Weekend psychological detachment and weekend mastery experiences did not predict the state of being recovered on Monday, and the state of being recovered did not predict weekly personal initiative or weekly task performance. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are presented, as are limitations and suggestions for future research.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Recharged and ready: a week-level diary study exploring an integrated model of weekend recovery, incorporating circadian and boundary perspectives, and their relationship with weekly performance
    (2025) Schroeder, Callum; Bagraim, Jeffrey
    The ability to effectively recover from work-related stressors during weekends is increasingly recognised as vital for the well-being and performance of employees. Given their theoretical alignment with recovery, this study extends an integrated model of weekend recovery by incorporating a boundary perspective (i.e., psychological reattachment to work) and a circadian perspective (i.e., sleep characteristics), offering a more comprehensive understanding of how these components interact with employees' recovery and ultimately influence their weekly job performance. In addition, positioning the weekend as the recovery context provided the opportunity to examine the impact of culture, religion, and spirituality on recovery, particularly as they relate to activities performed during leisure time. Using a longitudinal research design with repeated measures, quantitative data was collected from employees (N = 88) across various companies in South Africa over the course of three weeks before and after weekends. Multilevel model results, primarily at the person level (n = 57), indicated that low-duty activities positively predicted weekend recovery experiences (including psychological detachment, relaxation, and mastery experiences), with physical activities and cultural activities being the most conducive to the recovery experiences. Conversely, high-duty activities were not found to be significant negative predictors of weekend recovery experiences. It was also found that religious and spiritual activities, while not conducive to overall recovery experiences, were positively predictive of psychological detachment from work. Interestingly, inspection of the results for sleep quality and weekend catch-up sleep revealed that sleep quality positively predicted weekend recovery experiences only when high-duty and low-duty activities were removed from the model. Weekend catch-up sleep was not found to be a significant predictor of weekend recovery experiences among the current sample. Week-level findings (n = 102) indicated that weekend recovery experiences positively predicted the state of being recovered on Monday; however, they did not promote psychological reattachment. Nevertheless, it was found that psychological reattachment to work on Monday was found to be the most beneficial recovery-related outcome for optimal weekly job performance (i.e., task performance and work engagement), as opposed to the state of being recovered, which solely promoted employees' task performance for the remainder of the workweek. Ultimately, the relevant implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are presented.