The “Triple-Peak” Workday Trend…

Workers are now into a “triple-peak” day as it’s being called where employees are signing off earlier in the day and picking back up again at night to finish work.

Many managers report a work “dead zone” between 4 pm and 6 pm to run errands and take care of kids before finishing up their work.  While this can affect collaboration, it can offer flexibility for responsibilities like childcare.  

Workers use the time to run errands, pick up their kids, commute home before rush hour, or use the time for leisure, including hitting the golf course.

The pandemic and its effects on work have reconfigured the white-collar employee's workday in many ways, including changing the time of day they're working.

A study by Microsoft found that their employees used to have two productivity peaks in a day. This was measured by keyboard activity.  The peak productivity times were around 11 am and the other at about 3 pm. But roughly 30% of Microsoft employees in the study now had a third productivity peak at about 10 p.m.

For those whose work is more solitary or not as time-sensitive, the triple-peak day may offer a pathway to greater work-life balance.