A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The Benefits of Taking Time to Recover from Work Demands

“Are you binge working?” was the title of a recent NBC News article14 de-scribing recent cases in which people reported working as many as three days straight without any breaks, and in some cases literally dying as a result. Although cases like these are extreme, they point to a growing trend in today’s workplace—one that suggests employees are working longer hours, coping with increasing work demands, and readily adopting technology that tethers them to their work 24/7. Coupled with a working culture that equates face time and being “always on” with high job com-mitment, we’re left—perhaps not surprisingly—with a workforce that is overworked, sick, and less likely performing at a high level 5,7,11. In the face of these challenges, how can organizations maintain a healthy, en-gaged and productive workforce? Drawing from research on employee recovery from work demands, the answer to this question may lie in incor-porating strategies that allow employees to regularly recharge their batter-ies during time away from work