A recent study, published in Journal of Organizational Behavior, found that better weekend sleep quality was linked to lower levels of exhaustion during the workweek. Employees who slept well were better able to refocus on Mondays, positively impacting their entire week.

Typically, employees work Monday to Friday and relax on weekends. Mondays demand a return to focus, making them potentially the least favored day. Employees need to undergo psychological reattachment, which means mentally reconnecting to work.

of 310 employees, predominantly female, with an average age of 41 years.

Jette Völker and her team investigated the role of sleep quality in this reattachment process and its effect on exhaustion and task performance of 310 employees, with an average age of 41 years old. Participants completed surveys over five weeks, reporting weekend sleep and Monday reattachment, as well as Friday exhaustion and task performance.

Results showed that good weekend sleep led to better Monday reattachment, whereas catch-up sleep led to poorer reattachment. Poor reattachment was linked to higher exhaustion during the week, though it did not affect task performance.

Sleep should be one of the priorities in your daily life. While modern work and entertainment cultures make this more challenging, we should take time off as an opportunity to prioritize sleep rather than sacrificing it.

J Volker et al. It is Monday again: Weekend sleep differentially relates to the workweek via reattachment on Monday. Journal of Organizational Behavior (2024). https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2788