The protective role of sleep in tempering the impact of ICT ‐driven off‐hour interruptions on exhaustion at work

Abstract

Off‐hour work interruptions are prevalent in organizations that expect employee availability during off‐hours through information‐communication technologies (ICTs). We bring together domain switch theory and threaded cognition theory to argue that ICT availability demands increase off‐hour interruptions during periods intended for generating work‐relevant resources, resulting in exhaustion at work. We sought to identify how individuals could buffer this threat. While to date the literature has primarily examined sleep disruption as an outcome of ICT use or a means of restoring resources post‐stressor exposure, we extend the literature by exploring the protective power of sleep duration as a resource‐generating activity employees can leverage in ICT‐demanding work environments. Using multilevel data across a five‐day workweek from a sample of working adults (level 2: N  = 176) with daily off‐hour interruption reports (level 1: N  = 679), we found that sleep duration reduced the indirect effect of ICT availability demands on exhaustion via off‐hour interruptions, while controlling for sleep quality. These findings suggest that prioritizing sleep can help accrue resources needed for work, shifting the perspective from sleep as a reactive restorative process to a proactive protective mechanism. Results also underscore the potential value of organizational policies and leader behaviors that promote and enable sufficient off‐hours worker rest.