Video conference meetings, which became frequent during the COVID‐19 pandemic, might result in exhaustion (so‐called “Zoom fatigue”). However, only little is known about “Zoom fatigue,” the objective characteristics shaping it, and the subjective experiences eliciting this phenomenon. Gaining this knowledge is critical for understanding work life during the pandemic. Study 1, a within‐person quantitative investigation, tested whether video conferences are exhausting and if objective characteristics (i.e. meeting size, meeting duration, and the presence of the supervisor) moderate “Zoom fatigue”. Employees from Germany and Israel ( N = 81) participated in a 2‐week study, with meetings nested within persons ( n = 988). Results showed that video conferences are exhausting—more than meetings held through other media. However, objective characteristics did not moderate this relationship. In Study 2, qualitative data from Germany and Israel ( N = 53) revealed employees' subjective experiences in video conferences that may lead to “Zoom fatigue”. These include, for example, experiences of loss and comparison with the “good old times” before the pandemic. Employees suggested ways to mitigate “Zoom fatigue,” particularly, better management of meetings by leaders. Our results provide empirical support for “Zoom fatigue” and suggest which subjective experiences elicit this phenomenon, opening directions for research and practice.

Summary: The organizational self‐control literature usually applies resource perspectives that explain self‐control failure at work by depletion of self‐control resources. However, these perspectives neglect the role of self‐control motivation. On a daily level, we examine several self‐control aspects (resources, motivation, demands, and effort) as predictors of a manifestation of self‐control failure at work, namely, daily counterproductive work behavior toward the organization (CWB‐O). Additionally, we investigate self‐control effort as a mechanism predicting the depletion of self‐control resources throughout the day. We analyzed data from 155 employees in a 2‐week diary study with 2 daily measurement points. Multilevel path modeling showed that self‐control motivation and self‐control demands, but not self‐control resource depletion, predicted self‐control effort. There was an indirect effect from self‐control motivation on CWB‐O via self‐control effort but no indirect effect from self‐control demands on self‐control resource depletion throughout the day via self‐control effort. Findings suggest that self‐control motivation is a crucial factor explaining self‐control failure at work and cast further doubt on the idea that exerted self‐control effort is the only mechanism leading to self‐control resource depletion.

Summary: When conceptualizing work performance as requiring self‐control, scholars often employ a resource‐depletion perspective. However, this perspective neglects the role of self‐control motivation and self‐regulation strategies. In this diary study, we examine self‐control motivation (viz. motivation to control impulses) and depletion at the beginning of work and at midday as predictors of afternoon task performance. Additionally, we investigate morning aversive tasks as an antecedent of increased depletion and decreased self‐control motivation. Further, we examine the role of self‐regulation strategies (organizing, meaning‐related strategies, and self‐reward) for maintaining and improving performance when depleted or low in self‐control motivation. Data from a 2‐week diary study with three daily measurements (N = 135 employees; n = 991 days) were analyzed. Multilevel path modeling showed that self‐control motivation at the beginning of work and depletion at midday predicted afternoon task performance. We found that self‐reward in the afternoon counteracts the negative relationship between depletion and task performance. Further, we found an indirect effect from morning aversive tasks on task performance via depletion at noon buffered by afternoon self‐reward. Organizing and meaning in the afternoon were positively related to afternoon task performance. Findings suggest that self‐control motivation is important for task performance, in addition to low depletion. Moreover, results highlight that self‐regulation strategies are beneficial for task performance.

Although habits are a well-researched topic within psychology, habits enacted at the workplace received limited attention in the organizational literature. In this article we examine habits that employees show at the workplace. Because workplace habits are not always functional for performance or affective outcomes, and because employees themselves may regard specific habits as undesirable, it is important to identify ways of how employees can abandon such unwanted habits. We report findings from a daily-survey study (N = 145 persons) in which we examined if self-regulatory processes predict disengagement from undesirable habits and engagement in more desirable alternative behaviors. Multilevel path analysis showed that day-specific implementation intentions and day-specific vigilant monitoring were negatively related to day-specific habitual behavior and positively related to day-specific alternative behaviors, both in the morning and in the afternoon. Analysis of follow-up data (N = 126 persons) showed that change in habit strength was stable over a 2-month period, suggesting that implementation intentions, vigilant monitoring, and the associated enactment of alternative behavior indeed may help to disengage from unwanted habits, particularly with respect to task-related habits and when consistency in vigilant monitoring is high. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Summary: Workdays are the main temporal building blocks of people's experiences at work, and many factors potentially contribute to having a good versus a bad day at work. Still, empirical findings on these ingredients are scattered and a bigger picture is missing. This article reviews day‐level and experience‐sampling studies (k = 382 studies) to describe what makes for a good versus bad day at work. We derive outcome criteria for good versus bad days from the circumplex model of effect and identify specific pre‐work factors (sleep, pre‐work events, and pre‐work experiences) and at‐work factors (situational conditions, states and experiences, behaviors, results of one's actions, and work breaks) as their core ingredients. We highlight temporal trends in this rapidly growing research area and critically assess the current state of the literature with respect to theoretical and methodological issues. We link empirical findings that have emerged from our literature review to a homeostatic human sustainability perspective, offer directions for future research, and discuss the practical implementation of research findings.

We examined the role of daily recovery for morning cognitive appraisal of work demands in a daily diary study. We predicted that psychological detachment from work during the evening would be associated with changes in cognitive appraisal from afternoon to the next morning. Additionally, we predicted that these associations are mediated by state of being recovered in the morning. We collected data from 183 employees with 3 daily measurement occasions over 2 consecutive workweeks. We analyzed the data using multilevel path modeling with latent variance decomposition into within- and between-person variance parts. Results showed that psychological detachment predicted a decrease in hindrance and threat appraisal but no change in challenge appraisal from afternoon to morning. State of being recovered mediated the relationship between psychological detachment and threat appraisal but not hindrance appraisal. Psychological detachment was indirectly related to an increase in challenge appraisal via state of being recovered in the morning. Our results provide insights on predictors of cognitive appraisal and the role of recovery for cognitive processes in the stress process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).