Beyond One-Size-Fits-All : An Integrated Approach to Time Management and Time-Related Traits

Time management is widely believed to help employees thrive at work. However, research on time management remains surprisingly limited in explaining who uses time management, when it is used, and why. In parallel, research on time-related traits shows that employees differ in how they experience and use time. These traits, such as employees’ pacing styles, are rarely considered in time management research, despite their potential to explain why time management may not be equally relevant or appealing to all employees. Adopting a fit perspective across three manuscripts, I integrate research on time management and time- related traits to demonstrate that temporal individual differences are a key contingency shaping how employees engage with time management. In a longitudinal intervention study informed by person × intervention fit arguments (manuscript 1), participants receiving time management training showed greater use of time management than those receiving control training. However, training’s positive effects on time control and work engagement depended on deadline pacing style. In an experimental vignette study building on person × environment fit arguments (manuscript 2), employees differed in their experiences of time pressure and their use of time management, depending on their pacing style preferences. Finally, in a conceptual paper drawing on person × outcome fit arguments (manuscript 3), I rethink time management: I extend the notion of perceived time control to effective time control and introduce the concept of temporal identity threat to clarify why employees use (or refrain from) time management. Further, I reconceptualize it as a means of regulating temporal uncertainty, rather than merely reducing it. Overall, integrating research on time management and time-related traits opens new avenues for research and practice beyond one-size-fits-all assumptions, toward individualized time management that supports employees in flourishing at work in line with their time-related traits.