A study conducted at the Texas A&M School of Public Health utilized an innovative data collection approach to examine the productivity patterns of office workers. The research focused on 789 in-office employees at a prominent energy company in Texas and spanned a two-year period from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. The findings demonstrated a notable decline in productivity during the latter parts of the workday and week.
According to the study, employees exhibited reduced activity levels and an increased propensity for errors during afternoons and Fridays. Among all the measured time intervals, Friday afternoons emerged as the period with the lowest point of worker productivity. These observations align with the general sentiment shared by most office workers, who commonly perceive diminished productivity toward the conclusion of their workdays and workweeks.
Worker productivity
“Most studies of worker productivity use employee self-reports, supervisory evaluations or wearable technology, but these can be subjective and invasive,” the researchers explain. “Instead, we used computer usage metrics—things like typing speed, typing errors and mouse activity—to get objective, noninvasive data on computer work patterns.”
The researchers then analyzed the computer usage of participants at various times both each day and during the week to try and determine whether any patterns of usage existed.
“We found that computer use increased during the week, then dropped significantly on Fridays,” they explain. “People typed more words and had more mouse movement, mouse clicks and scrolls every day from Monday through Thursday, then less of this activity on Friday.”
This was particularly prominent during the afternoons, where there was a lull in activity, with Friday afternoons particularly poor in terms of productivity.
Less effective
“Employees were less active in the afternoons and made more typos in the afternoons—especially on Fridays,” the authors explain. “This aligns with similar findings that the number of tasks workers complete increases steadily from Monday through Wednesday, then decreases on Thursday and Friday.”
The researchers believe there are a number of takeaways from the research. Primarily, the adoption of flexible work structures, such as hybrid work models or a compressed four-day work week, could potentially foster heightened employee satisfaction and productivity.
As of May 2023, the majority of full-time, paid workers in the United States, approximately 60 percent, continued to operate exclusively from physical office locations. However, a significant portion opted for remote work or embraced a hybrid arrangement, blending remote and on-site work.
Moreover, a notable number of employees pursued a compressed workweek approach, wherein they extended their working hours across fewer days. These evolving work patterns indicate the growing relevance of flexible work arrangements in the contemporary labor landscape.
“Other studies have found that those who work from home or work fewer days have less stress from commuting, workplace politics and other factors, and thus have more job satisfaction,” the authors conclude. “These arrangements give workers more time with their families and thus reduce work-family conflicts, and also give them more time for exercise and leisure activities, which have been shown to improve both physical and mental health.”
