“Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.”
Satchel Paige
Our own research suggests that 40% to 60% of all employees express a moderately high level of stress on the job. Our work and non-work lives are very permeable with most of us taking work stress home and home stress to our job ((Nowack, K. (2006). Optimising Employee Resilience: Coaching to Help Individuals Modify Lifestyle. Stress News, International Journal of Stress Management, Volume 18, 9-12)).
How many of you in committed relationships have really two partners: 1) Your significant other and 2) His or her computer or mobile phone? Today, it is increasingly difficult to “get away” whether at home, during our weekends or even on a holiday.
All of this adds up to increased risk for a variety of adverse psychological and physical health outcomes. It is generally accepted that “recovery activities” (psychological detachment, relaxation, and challenging off-the-job experiences providing opportunities for learning and success) might help energy, mood and performance the following day.
A recent study focusing on 166 public administration employees by Sonnentag and colleagues at the University of Konstanz tested what techniques are actually associated with job-stress recovery ((Sonntag, S., Binnewies, & Moja, E. (2008). Did you have a nice evening? A day-level study on recovery experiences, sleep and affect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 674-684)). Their results from daily survey data analyzed over the course of one week revealed the following:
- Inability to detach psychologically from work (refraining from working on job tasks or cognitively thinking about issues, problems or challenges) was associated with significantly higher fatigue and negative affect (anxiety, anger, distress) the next day
- Active relaxation activities during the evening was significantly associated with morning serenity (a state of feeling calm, relaxed and at ease)
- Involvement with challenging off-job experiences providing opportunities for learning and success during the evening was significantly associated with positive activation the next morning (a state of high positive feelings and high arousal such as feeling active, strong, and confident)
- Getting adequate quality and quantity of sleep the night before demonstrated significant associations with morning serenity and positive affect and less fatigue
As Sonnentag points out, these results might sound like a lot of effort to tell us what we already know. But taken together, they really suggest that most of us need to do a better job of separating behaviorally and cognitively the concept of “leaving the office.”
Her study though does point out that if you want to avoid fatigue and negative affect you need to separate mentally from work but if your goal is to achieve greater relaxation and positive affect the next day it’s best to engage in activities after work and in the evening that you find interesting, challenging and exciting. And sleep quality/quantity was the strongest predictor of all outcomes so getting our zzzz’s at night really makes sense.
Wise companies should take a look at this study if they truly value the employees they hire and want to keep maximally productive.
Organizations today are asking more from all of us with less resources being made available–a quick formula for not being able to switch off from work.
Guess I will take a break and get back to work in my home office to clean up a few things left over from my work day….Be well….
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
