Daily Engagement and Productivity: The Importance of the Speed of Engagement

Abstract

People often drag their feet getting started at work each morning, with a rather unclear sense of the implications on their daily productivity. Drawing on boundary transitions theory as a conceptual lens, we introduce and investigate the concept of the speed of engagement—the quickness with which an employee becomes focused and energized upon beginning work. We explore the productivity implications of this phenomenon, as well as the psychological processes people use to capitalize on a quick transition to work. Two experience sampling field studies—one of which featured a within-person field experiment testing the efficacy of two interventions we designed for use on employees’ smartphones—support our theorizing. Our findings highlight the importance of the speed of engagement—over and above the level of engagement— for daily productivity levels. They also reveal that simple proactive steps to psychologically disengage from home or reattach to work increase the speed of engagement and lead to more productive days at work.