Stumbling out of the gate : The energy-based implications of morning routine disruption

Despite academic and practical advice regarding the virtues of daily routines for effective work performance, such routines are vulnerable to disruption from any number of sources. To understand whether and how routine disruptions affect employees at work, we draw on cognitive energetics theory (CET) and explore the potential negative consequences of morning routine disruptions on employees’ energy allocations at work. Moreover, given that CET is fundamentally a theory of goal attainment, we examine the downstream impact of routine disruptions on employees’ work goal progress. Results from two daily experience sampling studies show that when employees’ morning routines were disrupted, employees experienced higher levels of depletion and reduced calmness. In turn, depletion was associated negatively, and calmness was associated positively, with daily work engagement. Finally, daily work engagement was positively related to subsequent daily goal progress. These findings have important implications for our understanding of employees’ morning routines and the ways that disruptions to those routines ripple through employees’ workdays.