Research examines why workaholics can’t switch off

Nearly three out of four employees admit they can’t stop thinking about work after hours. Reflecting on personal, nonwork goals in the evening can support well-being and help many people feel better, though workaholics remain a notable exception, according to a new study from the School of Management.

Forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the research addresses the persistent difficulty most employees face in getting work off their minds. Asking them to engage in a simple, nonwork intervention — such as reflecting on their personal goals after work and planning how to accomplish them — can lead to improved well-being.

“Many workers admit to experiencing automatic, intrusive thoughts during leisure time as their biggest pain point as an employee,” says study co-author Min-Hsuan Tu, associate professor of organization and human resources. “We wanted to tackle this pressing challenge because when employees can’t switch off, the stress of the workday bleeds into their evenings, drains their energy, strains relationships and even affects their health.”

To assess whether the simple strategy of thinking about personal goals after work can help people detach, researchers collected data from more than 1,085 full-time employees and 137 part-time MBA students across three studies. The participants were asked to reflect in the evening on their nonwork goals, and the researchers measured rumination, exhaustion and whether workaholism altered the results. Workaholics, people who struggle the most with thinking about work after hours, benefited the least from the behavioral intervention.

“Workaholics have a deep attachment to work goals that makes it harder for them to mentally step away, limiting the intervention’s effectiveness and flagging these employees as a priority group for tailored recovery support,” says Tu.

For others, the findings offer a practical solution: deliberately reflecting on personal goals can effectively help employees stop thinking about unfinished work goals, curb work-related thoughts and elevate psychological, social and physiological well-being after hours.

Tu collaborated on the study with lead author Trevor A. Foulk, associate professor of management at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business; Michael Schaerer, associate professor of organizational behavior and human resources at the Singapore Management University Lee Kong Chian School of Business; and Amber Johnson, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland.