How Flexible Work Hours Can Improve Mental Health

Imagine a workplace where you are no longer constantly exhausted from the inflexible 9 to 5 schedule and your productivity is not defined by the clock. Flexible hours offer an individual the freedom to align their personal and professional life without the constant stress and pressure. In today’s fast-paced world, flexible hours have become a necessity, especially for better mental health. The world of organisational psychology and behaviour sciences is looking forward to more human-centred approaches to work and well-being. Implementing flexible working hours is just the first step.

The link between Work hours and Mental health

Various research has shown that there is a strong link between working hours and the mental health outcome of employees. Having a strict traditional 9-to-5 schedule has been linked to increased levels of stress and burnout in employees. A study by Sonnentag and Fritz (2014) demonstrated that employees who worked longer hours with less flexibility reported higher levels of stress and burnout. This inflexibility in working hours can lead to something called “time poverty” where the the employees might feel that they don’t have sufficient time for their family and other life priorities. This might lead to exacerbated stress levels.

A Japanese term Karoshi, is a pertinent example of how overwork and strict schedules can have detrimental consequences on the health of the employee. When employees feel that they have enough time for other aspects of their lives, they tend to feel comparatively less stressed. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is very crucial for mental well-being. Yet the traditional 9 to 5 working hours often don’t allow any individual to strike this balance. Individuals often experience a role conflict. This happens when the demands of work and their personal life clash, the individual is not able to fulfil the rule requirements of either of the social roles that they occupy, i.e. as an employee or as a spouse.

Read More: The Psychological Impact of Long-Term Remote Work, According to Psychologists

This often leads to feelings of frustration, guilt, and dissatisfaction. All these factors tend to contribute to mental and physical health problems. Striking a work-life balance is also important to prevent burnout. Having flexible hours allows the employee to schedule their day in such a way that accommodates both their professional as well as their commitments. This also reduces any kind of role conflict that the individual might experience.

Read More: Achieving Work-Life Balance: Striving for an Equilibrium

Cognitive overload is also another factor that leads to worse mental health outcomes in employees. Cognitive overload refers to when the employees are constantly bombarded with work-related tasks. This does not leave any time for the employee to recover. The constant bombarding leads to impaired cognitive functioning and coupled with the long working hours, and lack of recovery time leads to mental exhaustion. In essence, flexible, working hours, disrupted work, work-life balance, and cognitive overload and negative impact on mental health.

Benefits of flexible working hours

When employees get the autonomy to decide when they work, experience greater control over both their professional and private lives. This tends to reduce feelings of stress. The flexible working hours also allow the employees to align their work and personal commitments and accommodate each other accordingly, hence reducing any daily stresses. A study by Defilippis et al. (2020) demonstrated that employees with inflexible working hours were less likely to experience high levels of stress as compared to employees with flexible working hours. Having the ability to adjust their working hours, tends to reduce stress and anxiety in employees.

Research also shows that individuals who have flexible working hours tend to rate higher job satisfaction as compared to individuals with flexible working hours. Having control over their work schedule tends to make them feel more empowered and gives them a sense of autonomy, this in turn leads to a higher feeling of satisfaction and reduced sense of frustration. Furthermore, companies with flexible working hours often observe a lower
turnover rate as compared to companies with flexible working hours.

Both physical and mental health are interrelated. If the individual can design their workday to accommodate both their personal and work needs, they have more opportunities to engage in physical activities. Furthermore having time to engage in physical activities, also tends to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Apart from physical exercises, individuals with flexible working hours also tend to have more time to engage in healthy habits and routines such as preparing home-made nutritious meals and engaging in self-care activities. All these combined lead to lower levels of stress and improved overall health.

There are various benefits of flexible working hours. However, there is certain resistance towards this. Every organisation tends to adhere to the traditional pattern of working hours and hence they are resistant to adopting flexible working hours. They believe that what has been going on for years stands corrected and is the most useful method. There is resistance to the change.

Research by Chung & Van der Lippe (2020) reported that organisations that are rooted in hierarchy and traditional laws are more likely to be resistant to flexible working hours. These organisation and their culture are based on the theory X managerial system. Which states that people are naturally lazy and less disciplined and determined to work. Hence close supervision is required to make them work. Hence, flexible working hours are never beneficial for the company or getting the work done. However, various research has shown that this is not the case.

Post Pandemic Work Culture

The workplace norms and norms related to work hours have been shifted since COVID-19. During the pandemic, many organisations, even the very traditional ones, were forced to adapt to remote and flexible working hours. Research showed that this has led to an increase in productivity for many industries. Many executive and companies allowed their employees to work remotely, at least part of the time even during post-pandemic.

This reflects a change in the mindset. This change in the mindset is so significant that the Microsoft work trend index (2021) highlighted that about 70% of the employees wish to continue with the flexible working hours option, the employees expect the companies to have this flexible work option and they are becoming the norm. This also means that companies that fail to offer the flexibility option might potentially lose employees. Hybrid work options are also becoming increasingly normalised and they are increasingly becoming the standard. An employee tends to split their time between the office and remote locations.

In today’s time, companies are increasingly recognising that mental and physical health are interconnected and increasingly prioritising the employee’s mental well-being. As a result, flexible working hours or hybrid modes are becoming the new standard norm. This allows individuals to balance their work and personal commitments, gives them autonomy in their jobs and also helps them to focus on their mental and physical health. All of these factor in combination not only increases the efficiency and productivity of the companies but also increase the job satisfaction and life satisfaction of the employees.