文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Harnessing the Potential of Workday Design: The Sequencing of Task Difficulty and Its Implications for Workday Well-Being and Performance

作者：Zhang, Chen[1];Qiu, Zhaodong (Alan)[2];Zhao, Helen H.[3];Yang, Mengxi[4];Chen, Wansi[5];Ma, Yuan[1]

机构：[1]Tsinghua Univ, Sch Econ & Management, Beijing, Peoples R China;[2]NEOMA Business Sch, Mont St Aignan, France;[3]Univ Hong Kong, Fac Business & Econ, Hong Kong, Peoples R China;[4]Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Sch Econ & Management, MOE Social Sci Lab Digital Econ Forecasts & Policy, Beijing, Peoples R China;[5]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Business, Shanghai, Peoples R China

年份：2025

卷号：78

期号：4

起止页码：545

外文期刊名：PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

收录：;WOS:【SSCI(收录号:WOS:001484671300001)】；

基金：The major part of this project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72472082, 72002112, and 72472134).

语种：英文

外文关键词：employee well-being; proactive approaches to work; workday activities; workday design; work design; task sequence

摘要：Can workers improve their workday well-being and performance through the temporal organization of tasks, without altering the content and characteristics of tasks during the day? We integrate insights from cognitive energetics theory with the lens of temporal comparison to theorize the workday sequencing of task difficulty, and we uncover its implications for workday well-being and performance outcomes. We conducted two field studies in two organizations: Study 1 was a field experiment with an intervention on 166 employees' workdays; Study 2 was an experience sampling study with 226 employees, integrating multiple daily surveys, supervisor ratings, and electroencephalogram (EEG) assessments. Results show that when workers addressed more difficult tasks early on and moved to easier ones later as the day unfolded, they experienced less fatigue and greater mental relaxation at the end of the workday; they also exhibited better extra-role performance on the day. Additionally, the effectiveness of this difficult-tasks-first approach varied with individual differences: although it enhanced perceived work progress on a day for early-pacers, this benefit was less pronounced for individuals with a steady or late pacing style. Overall, our research highlights the temporal sequencing of tasks as a valuable perspective for work and workday design.