Polychronicity and Multitasking: A Diary Study at Work

Polychronicity and multitasking have been described as being indispensible in work today because they enable people to use their time flexibly and effectively. We conducted a diary study among 93 employees during the mornings and evenings of 5 consecutive workdays (n = 418 observations). The study used hierarchical linear modeling with polychronicity and other personal characteristics at the person level, and multitasking behavior along with multitasking opportunities, interruptions, and unplanned work as antecedents, and affective well-being and self-rated performance as outcomes at the day level. We found several relations between antecedents and multitasking, as well as between multitasking and consequences. Polychronicity interacts with these relationships, such that polychronic individuals’ affective well-being and self-rated performance are less affected on days with much multitasking compared to monochronic individuals.