A Daily Study on How Work-Related ICT Use After Hours Influences Work Procrastination Behavior

Although studies have shown that work-related information communication technology (WICT) use after hours may result in adverse effects within workdays, little is known about whether and how it affects employees’ next-day work behaviors. Based on ego depletion theory, we examined the effect of WICT use after hours on next-day work procrastination behavior and investigated its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. To examine the hypotheses, we conducted a daily survey of 95 Master of Public Administration (MPA) students over 10 workdays in China. The results showed that WICT use after hours increased next-day work procrastination behavior through next-morning ego depletion. Moreover, conscientiousness moderated the relationship between morning ego depletion and work procrastination behavior, such that morning ego depletion was positively associated with work procrastination behavior only for employees with low levels of conscientiousness. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are further discussed.