Non-work Time Research Articles

Learning by gaming: nonwork-to-work enrichment among successful massive multiplayer online gamers

ABSTRACT Online gaming is stereotypically associated with negative outcomes, partially due to social stigmas. Given the large population of massive multiplayer online (MMO) gamers, in this qualitative study, we explored if and how gaming resulted in positive outcomes by enriching employees’ work. To do so, we interviewed 23 employed adults with extensive gaming experience. Our analysis revealed that MMO gaming resulted in several learning outcomes that were directly related to general workplace skills. We categorised these learning outcomes as affective (i.e. viewing work as solvable puzzles, developing self-confidence, developing self-awareness), behavioural (i.e. leading and working with a team, coaching and developing others, developing social connections, conflict resolution), and cognitive (i.e. gaining knowledge; goal setting, strategising, and planning; adaptability and agility; and problem-solving). Also, we highlighted the social and individual factors that played a role in how learning outcomes were transferred from gaming to work. Our findings broaden the limited scholarship on employee enrichment experiences, extending our understanding of how an individual’s hobby, as an understudied and critical part of the nonwork domain, is associated with the work domain. Our study challenges the common negative stereotypes about gamers and advocates the potential enrichment of workplace skills resulting from gaming during nonwork time.

Income or Leisure? On the Hidden Benefits of (Un)Employment

Do unemployed people benefit from more free time, while consumption is the sole motive for employed people to accept a life with less available time? Does this apply equally to men and women? To inform ongoing policy debates on how to address the problem of unemployment, we provide a comprehensive discussion of the traditionally assumed trade-off between income and leisure in labor supply decisions, which has been contested for a variety of reasons. Using rich German panel data, we compare non-employed individuals after plant closures with employed individuals regarding their subjective well-being obtained from time use and income. We find that increased non-working time through unemployment translates into higher free-time satisfaction, while also improving satisfaction with family life, as a possible hidden benefit of being unemployed when having more time for home production. Meanwhile, there is a strong decline in satisfaction with household income, especially among unemployed men, which cannot be explained solely by a lower level of income. We inspect the role of social norms in this context and argue that individuals obtain identity utility through having a job that ensures being self-sufficient, as a hidden benefit of employment. Based on studying unemployed workers transitions into retirement and a separately conducted survey experiment, we provide strong evidence on the importance of the social norm of earning a living from work. Our experiment also shows that home production is a way of mitigating the pressure to comply with this norm, which is true for men and women alike.

Effects of Sedentary Behavior Reduction on Blood Pressure in Desk Workers: Results From the RESET-BP Randomized Clinical Trial.

Sedentary behavior (SB) is observationally associated with cardiovascular disease risk. However, randomized clinical trials testing causation are limited. We hypothesized that reducing SB would decrease blood pressure (BP) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in sedentary adults. This parallel-arm, 3-month randomized clinical trial recruited desk workers, age 18 to 65 years, with systolic BP 120 to 159 or diastolic BP (DBP) 80 to 99 mm Hg, off antihypertensive medications, and reporting <150 min/wk of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. Participants were randomized to a SB reduction intervention or a no-contact control group. The intervention sought to replace 2 to 4 h/d of SB with standing and stepping through coaching, a wrist-worn activity prompter, and a sit-stand desk. SB and physical activity were measured with a thigh-worn accelerometer and quantified during all waking hours and separately during work and nonwork times. Clinic-based resting systolic BP (primary outcome) and DBP, 24-hour ambulatory BP, and PWV were assessed by blinded technicians at baseline and 3 months. Participants (n=271) had a mean age of 45 years and systolic BP/DBP 129/83 mm Hg. Compared with controls, intervention participants had reduced SB (-1.15±0.17 h/d), increased standing (0.94±0.14 h/d), and increased stepping (5.4±2.4 min/d; all P<0.05). SB and activity changes mainly occurred during work time and were below the goal. The intervention did not reduce BP or PWV in the intervention group compared with controls. Between-group differences in resting systolic BP and DBP changes were -0.22±0.90 (P=0.808) and 0.13±0.61 mm Hg (P=0.827), respectively. The findings were similarly null for ambulatory BP and PWV. Decreases in work-time SB were associated with favorable reductions in resting DBP (r=0.15, P=0.017). Contrary to our hypotheses, reductions in work-time SB (r=-0.19, P=0.006) and increases in work-time standing (r=0.17, P=0.011) were associated with unfavorable increases in carotid-femoral PWV. As expected, increases in non-work-time standing were favorably associated with carotid-femoral PWV (r=-0.14, P=0.038). A 3-month intervention that decreased SB and increased standing by ≈1 hour during the work day was not effective for reducing BP. Future directions include examining effects of interventions reducing SB through activity other than work-time standing and clarifying association between standing and PWV in opposite directions for work and nonwork time. URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03307343.

Psychological detachment from work during nonwork time as a moderator and mediator of the relationship of workload with fatigue and sleep in hospital nurses

ObjectivesTo examine differences in psychological detachment from work during nonwork time by nurses’ personal and work-related characteristics, and to examine the moderating and mediating effects of psychological detachment on the relationships between nursing workload and fatigue and sleep. MethodsThis study employed a cross-sectional design with a self-administered online survey. Survey data from 827 hospital nurses providing direct patient care in the United States were used. Moderating and mediating effects of psychological detachment between workload and fatigue/sleep relationships were assessed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro in SPSS. ResultsThere were significant differences in psychological detachment from work based on age, highest nursing degree, work experience, shift length, weekly work hours, and frequency of providing care to patients with COVID-19. The associations of workload with physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and sleep quality were weakened when psychological detachment was high. Psychological detachment statistically mediated the associations between workload and fatigue and sleep problems. ConclusionHealthcare organizations are encouraged to facilitate nurses’ psychological detachment during time-off to protect them from fatigue and sleep problems.

Association of accelerometer measured sedentary behavior patterns with cognitive functions in sedentary office workers: Insights from SMART-STEP study

BACKGROUND: High levels of sedentary behavior in workplaces are currently recognized as an independent risk factor for cognitive dysfunction and poor mental health. However, sedentary patterns vary between workdays and non-workdays, which may influence cognitive functions. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to quantify and compare work and nonwork device-measured sedentary time (ST) and its association with cognitive function in Indian office workers. METHODS: In an ongoing randomized controlled trial (SMART-STEP), the baseline data of 136 full-time office workers, including accelerometer-measured sedentary patterns and cognitive functions, were analyzed. The ST was measured using a hip-worn accelerometer (Actigraph wGT3X-BT) for seven days, and executive functions were measured using computer-based tests. Linear regression models were employed to analyze the relationships between ST and executive function measures. RESULTS: The median daily ST of Indian office workers was 11.41 hours. The ST was greater on both workdays (11.43 hrs.) and non-workdays (11.14 hrs.) though different (F = 6.76, p = 0.001, ηp2 = 0.032). Office workers accumulate more prolonged sitting bouts (+21.36 min) during work days than non-workdays. No associations between device-measured ST and executive functions were observed. CONCLUSION: Indian office workers exhibited high ST patterns, especially on workdays. Although lower than workdays, Indian office workers exhibited more ST patterns during non-workdays than did their Western counterparts. Culturally adaptable workplace and leisure time physical activity interventions are needed to address the high ST of Indian office workers.

Reconceptualizing time and space: employee voices from the nonvoluntary work from home context

Purpose This paper aims to explore how employees reconceptualized their time and space to order and structure their lives in an unprecedented scenario of nonvoluntary work from home. Design/methodology/approach Set in the context of lockdowns due to the pandemic scenario, the study uses a constructivist approach to collect data through in-depth online interviews to understand how employees coped with the challenges emanating in a nonvoluntary work from home situation. The respondents were purposively selected to reflect a diverse pool in terms of gender, familial responsibilities and age/tenure. Findings The findings present temporal and spatial themes that provide several insights into how employees made sense of time and space as resources to navigate their challenging work-home roles. Research limitations/implications In the present study, the authors found that when boundaries get violated, it does not necessarily manifest in the form of dissatisfaction with one or the other domain. The respondents in the current study show-cased adjustment mechanism to cope with the boundary permeability that happened. They adopted ways in which they could safe-guard their multiple identities in the situation they found themselves in, do justice to the salient roles in their lives, emerge as more empathetic humans and look forward to a brighter and more hopeful future. This opens-up a possibility of studying the theory behind human behavior in crisis-like situations and the degree of acceptance that people show when they find themselves in undesirable-unalterable situations. Practical implications A mental reorientation is required on the part of both employees and employers to navigate smoothly in this new “normal” and find more sustainable solutions to the problem if the remote working or hybrid mode of working becomes mainstay. Clear demarcations between work and nonwork time are a key element to ensure proper work schedules for remote workers. Offline meetings and get-togethers can be organized on a periodic basis to facilitate employee interaction and engagement. Participation of employees in key decisions becomes more important in such situations as it makes employees feel more connected with their work space. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is original as it is set in a completely unprecedented situation of lockdowns (during the pandemic) that affected the lives of everyone in some way or the other. The findings of the study are unique and insightful, as they help understand the sense-making mechanism adopted by people to successfully navigate through the crisis.

Examining the implications of work–nonwork demand congruence

AbstractExamining the implications of excessive work demands on employee well‐being is an important research area of occupational health psychology. Recovery during nonwork time has been emphasized as an important process for mitigating the negative implications of excessive work demands. However, this notion ignores the potential for nonwork activities to be comparably demanding to work activities. There has been a lack of attention paid to the potentially complex interrelationships between work and nonwork demands. Using the effort–recovery and challenge–hindrance stressor models, we developed a set of hypotheses for both the positive and negative implications of the interplay between employee work and nonwork cognitive demands. We collected information on cognitive workweek job demands (Friday) and nonwork cognitive weekend demands (Sunday) from a sample of workers (N = 146), and we used polynomial regression with response surface analysis to examine how different aspects of work–nonwork cognitive demand (in)congruence related to Monday work engagement. In general, higher cognitive workweek job demands promoted work engagement, even when nonwork cognitive demands were equally high. Cognitive demand incongruence that favoured higher cognitive work demands was also beneficial for employee work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, along with directions for future research in this area.

Enhancing Workplace Efficiency and Security Through Intelligent Employee Surveillance

This project aims to develop an innovative system for accurately tracking employees' working hours based on their presence within designated workspace areas, particularly their work cabins. Leveraging advanced technologies such as image annotation, preprocessing, and augmentation, as well as robust object detection models, this study addresses the need for efficient employee surveillance and time management solutions in contemporary workplaces. The methodology involved detailed annotation and enhancement of image data, enabling precise representation of cabin areas and identification of individual employees within images. Subsequently, a state-of-the-art object detection model, YOLOv8, was utilized to train using this annotated dataset, achieving an impressive accuracy of more than 90% in recognizing and tracking employee presence within the specified cabin regions. Through small incremental changes based on previous insights and optimization, the project achieved high levels of accuracy in inferring employees' working hours based on their occupancy within the designated workspace. By differentiating between time spent inside cabins (considered as working time) and time spent outside these areas (considered as non-working time), the system offers an automated and objective approach to time tracking, eliminating the need for manual input or subjective assessments. Future scopes for this research include exploring the integration of additional sensors or data sources to further enhance the accuracy and granularity of employee activity tracking. Additionally, advancements in machine learning algorithms and hardware may enable real-time processing and analysis of surveillance data, leading to more proactive management of employee productivity and well-being. Moreover, the application of this technology could extend beyond traditional office settings to various industries, such as manufacturing, retail, and healthcare, where precise monitoring of employee activities is crucial for optimizing operations and ensuring compliance with regulations. This research underscores the potential of advanced computer vision techniques, particularly YOLOv8, in revolutionizing employee surveillance and time management practices. By providing real-time monitoring capabilities and ensuring compliance with work regulations, this approach holds promise for enhancing workplace productivity, transparency, and accountability.

"Always online": How and when task interdependence and dispositional workplace anxiety affect workplace telepressure after hours.

Information and communication technology (ICT) provides employees with convenience in communication. However, it also creates a preoccupation with and urges to respond quickly to work-related ICT messages during nonworking time, which is defined as workplace telepressure after hours (WTA). Drawing on the job demand-resource model, conservation of resource theory, and workplace anxiety theory, this study explores how and when task interdependence and dispositional workplace anxiety affect WTA and how individuals cope with WTA. A total of 269 full-time workers from an online survey panel completed questionnaires at three time-points. We found that both task interdependence and dispositional workplace anxiety are positively related to WTA. The perception of pay-for-responsiveness moderates the relationship between task interdependence and WTA, such that the relationship is significant only for employees with a strong perception of pay-for-responsiveness. Others' approval contingency of self-worth moderates the relationship between dispositional workplace anxiety and WTA, and the relationship is significant only for employees with high degrees of others' approval contingency of self-worth. Finally, WTA arising from external work requirements or the internal pursuit of achieving work goals prompts employees to generate responsiveness coping strategies. Overall, these findings suggest that task interdependence and dispositional workplace anxiety are important factors affecting employees' WTA and highlight the importance of being responsive to WTA.

The Norwegian tax holiday: Salience, labor supply responses, and frictions

AbstractAn emerging consensus is that the Frisch elasticity of labor supply is small. This may reflect a lack of salience, inelastic preferences, or prevalence of frictions. Studying survey data collected during a tax holiday in Norway, when earnings were untaxed during a transition between tax systems, I report three findings. First, 80 per cent of adults were aware of the tax holiday. Second, one fifth of adults responded by working more. Third, frictions in adjusting working hours or nonworking time appear to be the reason for a majority of nonresponses. The findings support the long‐held notion that labor supply choices are constrained.

Why do employees hide knowledge after working hours? Linking non-working time ICT demands to deceptive knowledge hiding

PurposeEmployees may adopt deceptive knowledge hiding (DKH) due to nonworking time information and communication technology (ICT) demands. Drawing from the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to develop and test a model of deceptive knowledge hiding (DKH) due to nonworking time information and communication technology (ICT) demands.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 300 service employees have joined the three-wave surveys. Path analysis and bootstrapping methods were used to test the theoretical model.FindingsResults suggest that knowledge requests during nonworking time could deplete employees’ resources and increase their tendency to engage in DKH, whereas work recovery and emotional exhaustion mediate this relationship. In addition, employees’ work–family segmentation preferences (WFSP) were found to moderate the direct effects of nonworking time ICT demands on employees’ work recovery and emotional exhaustion and the indirect effects of knowledge requests after working hours on DKH through employees’ work recovery and emotional exhaustion.Originality/valueFirst, the findings of this study shed light on the relationship between knowledge requests during employees’ nonworking time and knowledge hiding, suggesting that knowledge hiding could occur beyond working hours. Second, drawing on COR theory, this study explored two joint processes of resource replenishment failure and depletion and how nonworking time ICT demands trigger knowledge hiding. Third, the interaction effect of individuals’ WFSP and nonworking time factors on knowledge hiding deepens the understanding of when nonworking time ICT demands may induce knowledge hiding through various processes.

Espaços de “lazer” em ambientes de trabalho na “Sociedade de desempenho”

Abstract This article proposes a reflection on the increasing trend of integrating leisure spaces into work environments. It begins with the hypothesis that such spaces constitute a form of appropriation, by employers, of their employees' non-working time. The conceptual references primarily stem from the notions of Disciplinary Society (Foucault), involving the idea of docile bodies shaped by surveillance, and Performance Society (Han), demonstrating how the experience within these spaces that exploit employees' free time can easily be mistaken for a sense of freedom. The article concludes by highlighting the worker’s active participation in their own exploitation and pointing out the need to discuss the psychosocial implications arising from this rapidly expanding practice within contemporary capitalism.

Supplemental Material for Investigating Daily Abusive Supervision as Antecedent of Subordinates’ Low Psychological Detachment and Relaxation During Nonwork Time: A Diary Study

Supplemental Material for Investigating Daily Abusive Supervision as Antecedent of Subordinates’ Low Psychological Detachment and Relaxation During Nonwork Time: A Diary Study

Sitting, Standing, and Physical Activity in Australian Passenger Rail Drivers: On the Right Track for Better Health?

Poor health in passenger rail drivers, resulting from perceived highly sedentary work and leisure time, has implications for public safety. To date, no studies have described the physical behaviors of passenger rail drivers. This study aimed to characterize the physical behaviors of passenger rail drivers by investigating the volume, pattern, variation, and composition of behaviors at and outside of work. A convenience sample of 31 rail drivers (77% male, median age 51.0 [12.5]y) in South Australia wore an activity monitor on their right thigh for 8 days and completed a work logbook. Physical behaviors (sitting, standing, light-intensity physical activity, moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity [MVPA], and steps) were recorded for workdays and nonworkdays, and work and nonwork time on workdays. The volume, bouts, between-participants variation, and 3-way composition were compared across the 4 time periods. Drivers sat for 10.6 (1.5)hours, did 76.3 (38.8)minutes of MVPA, and took 9727.3 (4088.4) steps daily. At work, drivers were sitting 369.3 (41.8)minutes (187.1 [54.2]min in prolonged bouts) and doing MVPA 31.7 (10.0)minutes. Between-participants variation in sitting time during work (11%) was lower than both nonwork on a workday (19%) and on a nonworkday (24%; P < .001). Compositions at work differed from nonwork on workdays (F = 27.7, P < .001), as did compositions on workdays compared with nonworkdays (F = 6.8, P = .002). Passenger rail drivers were highly sedentary, but also surprisingly active. At work, drivers were more sedentary and had lower variation in behaviors, suggesting work constraints play an important role. Therefore, work may be the most appropriate domain to intervene for promoting healthy physical behavior profiles among these passenger rail drivers.

Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and risk of viral exposure among healthcare workers in the South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesHealthcare workers (HCWs) are on the frontline of combating COVID-19, hence are at elevated risk of contracting an infection with SARS-CoV-2. The present study aims to measure the impact of...

Leading for growth: a daily investigation of affiliation resources provided by the leader and nonwork mastery

PurposeAlthough nonwork mastery generates personal resources and improves employee well-being and performance, employees must invest personal resources to experience mastery during nonwork time. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and resource exchange perspectives, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of day-to-day provisions of affiliation resources by the leader in generating the personal resources necessary for employees to engage in nonwork mastery.Design/methodology/approachDaily diary data were collected from 198 employees (768 days). The proposed model was tested using Bayesian multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results showed that on days when employees perceived that their leader provided more affiliation resources, they reported higher self-esteem and work engagement and, in turn, experienced higher levels of mastery. Furthermore, employees in high-quality (vs low-quality) leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships benefitted more from the affiliation resources provided by their leader in terms of work engagement.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that leaders can actively manage their employees' daily experience and functioning through seemingly ordinary demonstrations of warmth, care, and positive regard.Originality/valueThis study highlights the important role of leaders in improving employee daily work and nonwork experience and functioning and sheds light on the tangible resource provisions in the work context and the associated personal resources that account for daily variations in mastery. By distinguishing between daily affiliation resources and general perceptions of LMX relationship quality, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the implications that resource provisions by the leader have for employees.

Task execution flow management in the software development process under the minor change event

In modern project management methodologies, insufficient attention is devoted to the process of promptly responding to minor changes during task execution, which necessitate adjustments to the priorities of ongoing tasks. The existing approaches are not sufficiently detailed for a fundamental reassessment of priorities while such changes significantly impact project execution. The available materials and approaches do not provide ready-made solutions. This article proposes a task planning model during project execution. The model comprises the following key elements: Executor, Task Set, Task Execution Progress, and Calculation of Task Execution Quality Indicators. The Executor element contains information for identifying the developer and allocating their working time. It is anticipated that under exceptional conditions, a portion of non-working time may be scheduled for task execution. The Task Set element represents planned temporal characteristics and the priority of each task. The Task Execution Progress element contains information about actual dates, hours, and durations of segments during which the task was executed. The calculations of task execution quality indicators enable obtaining operational information about the progress of specific projects and assessing the effectiveness of process management. Basic algorithms for managing task sequences have been developed. The “Addition of a New Task” algorithm implements a task queue based on priority and start and end dates. The “Task Priority Change” algorithm envisages the possible repositioning of a task, as well as cases of task transfer to another executor or rescheduling tasks during non-working hours. Additionally, algorithms for notification of critical planning changes for dependent tasks (“Notification of Critical Planning Change for Dependent Tasks”) and critical deprioritization of dependent tasks (“Notification of Critical Deprioritization for Dependent Tasks”) have been developed. The proposed model and algorithms allow for accommodating micro-changes in the project and responding to their occurrence. The validation of research results in a real project demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithms while concurrently revealing a certain range of open questions requiring further consideration. Future research directions include the classification of micro-change scenarios, analysis of possible scenarios for suspending the execution of current tasks, and the development of scenarios and algorithms for selecting executors.

An effort-recovery model for early-stage entrepreneurs’ work demands: the role of recovery experiences

Entrepreneurs can benefit from having non-work experiences that help them recover the psychological resources depleted from work tasks. Using the Effort-Recovery Model as a basis for understanding how recovery occurs, this study examines relationships between non-work recovery experiences (i.e. psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) and well-being (i.e. work engagement, emotional exhaustion, and sleep quality) in entrepreneurs, a unique sample population for studying the relationships between these constructs. We test hypotheses using a cross-sectional survey of 247 early-stage entrepreneurs that founded a business in the prior three years. Findings show that mastery and control experiences have a positive relationship with work engagement, control experiences have a negative relationship with emotional exhaustion, and psychological detachment experiences have a positive relationship with sleep quality. The results also suggest that higher work hours are related to lower relaxation and control experiences, whereas a higher number of employees is related to higher relaxation experiences and feelings of control over non-work time. Comparing these results to studies with employees, one implication is that low psychological detachment may be less harmful in the short-term for early-stage entrepreneurs. A second implication is that there are benefits of multiple after-work recovery experiences (i.e. psychological detachment, mastery, and control).

The Impact of Work-related Electronic Communication During Non-working Time on Work Performance

With the development of electronic information technology, the use of electronic communication equipment for work communication has become ubiquitous in people's work and life, and has brought a series of positive and negative effects. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the academic literature on non-work time participation in work-related electronic communication. A significant finding is that most of the existing literature focuses on how non-working electronic communication affects employee initiative, work-family conflict, and time banditry behavior. At the same time, there is relatively little discussion on employee work performance. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship between remote employees engaged in work-related electronic communication during non-working time and their work performance by applying affective events theory, job characteristics model theory, and job demands-resources model theory, to provide effective suggestions for enterprises and employees on how to balance work and life.

Identifying Predictors of Burnout and Health of Certified Mental Performance Consultants

Researchers have established factors that impair (e.g., stress) or facilitate (e.g., occupational recovery) health among professionals operating in sport and performance (e.g., coaches). However, there is a paucity of research examining factors that impair or facilitate the health of sport psychology professionals. Given that sport psychology professionals have an obligation to manage their health to maintain effective service provision, research is needed to fill this gap. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of burnout and health among certified mental performance consultants. Participants completed measures of perceived stress, burnout, occupational recovery, and health-related quality of life. Regression results, including a moderator analysis, indicated that perceived stress and occupational recovery predicted burnout, while occupational recovery moderated the relationship between perceived stress and burnout. Perceived stress and burnout further predicted health-related quality of life. Recommendations include certified mental performance consultants spending nonwork time in low-effort and/or physical activities, as well as exerting autonomy over nonwork time.