Summary article: Burnout and Daily Recovery: A Day Reconstruction
Study – Oerlemans & Bakker, 2014.
What can employees who are at risk of burnout do in their off -job time to recover
adequately from their work?
The hypothesis for this study is that the continuation of work during off-job time results in lower daily
recovery, whereas engagement in ‘nonwork’ activities (low-effort, social, and physical activities)
results in higher daily recovery who are at risk of burnout versus employees with low levels of
burnout.
Research has shown that individuals need to adequately recover from their work-related efforts on a
daily basis as it prevents further exhaustion and enables them to reload for the next working day.
Adequate recovery may depend on both the types of off-job activities, as well as more general well-
being characteristics. This study will examine what employees high or low in
burnout do in their off-job time to recover from their work, and how this affects their daily recovery.
Theoretical background
Burnout is an indicator of long-term well-being – it indicates whether employees experience high
levels of exhaustion and disengagement toward the job. It’s generally understood that burnout
results from an unfavourable work environment with high job demands and low job resources. Long-
term exposure to this may lead to the depletion of energy and health problems including
musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases.
Little attention has been paid to daily psychological and physiological processes that – over time –
may explain why employee well-being turns into ill-being, and eventually in burnout.
Exception: effort-recovery theory of Meijman and Mulder (1998). Accordingly, employees have to
invest effort to achieve work-related goals. This effort produces physical and physiological costs that
are associated with working. These reactions are usually short-lived and reversible. However, under
certain circumstances, the recovery process may be insufficient or inadequate, and short-term work-
related efforts may turn into long-term chronic health problems.
Diary studies did confirm that work-related activities during off-job time negatively affect
daily recovery, although reported effects are small.
In contrast, ‘nonwork’ or ‘leisure’ activities could contribute to adequate daily recovery by either
replenishing used physical and cognitive resources, or acquiring new resources.
Low-effort activities pose no additional demands on psychobiological systems, which means
the systems return to their pre-stressor state.
Social activities may lead to the acquisition of social resources because they open up
channels for social support. Also, they’re likely to draw on different personal resources than
those required to accomplish work-related tasks and offer the opportunity to relax and
detach from work.
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Study – Oerlemans & Bakker, 2014.
What can employees who are at risk of burnout do in their off -job time to recover
adequately from their work?
The hypothesis for this study is that the continuation of work during off-job time results in lower daily
recovery, whereas engagement in ‘nonwork’ activities (low-effort, social, and physical activities)
results in higher daily recovery who are at risk of burnout versus employees with low levels of
burnout.
Research has shown that individuals need to adequately recover from their work-related efforts on a
daily basis as it prevents further exhaustion and enables them to reload for the next working day.
Adequate recovery may depend on both the types of off-job activities, as well as more general well-
being characteristics. This study will examine what employees high or low in
burnout do in their off-job time to recover from their work, and how this affects their daily recovery.
Theoretical background
Burnout is an indicator of long-term well-being – it indicates whether employees experience high
levels of exhaustion and disengagement toward the job. It’s generally understood that burnout
results from an unfavourable work environment with high job demands and low job resources. Long-
term exposure to this may lead to the depletion of energy and health problems including
musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases.
Little attention has been paid to daily psychological and physiological processes that – over time –
may explain why employee well-being turns into ill-being, and eventually in burnout.
Exception: effort-recovery theory of Meijman and Mulder (1998). Accordingly, employees have to
invest effort to achieve work-related goals. This effort produces physical and physiological costs that
are associated with working. These reactions are usually short-lived and reversible. However, under
certain circumstances, the recovery process may be insufficient or inadequate, and short-term work-
related efforts may turn into long-term chronic health problems.
Diary studies did confirm that work-related activities during off-job time negatively affect
daily recovery, although reported effects are small.
In contrast, ‘nonwork’ or ‘leisure’ activities could contribute to adequate daily recovery by either
replenishing used physical and cognitive resources, or acquiring new resources.
Low-effort activities pose no additional demands on psychobiological systems, which means
the systems return to their pre-stressor state.
Social activities may lead to the acquisition of social resources because they open up
channels for social support. Also, they’re likely to draw on different personal resources than
those required to accomplish work-related tasks and offer the opportunity to relax and
detach from work.
1
