Work-life balance | How you handle your home life can boost work performance, study shows

A new study shows that people who proactively reorganise their family routines, such as adjusting childcare schedules or redistributing domestic responsibilities, are more likely to demonstrate adaptability and innovation at work.

Researchers found that employees who take initiative at home carry the momentum into their professional lives, becoming more resilient and forward-thinking.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, was led by the University of Bath’s School of Management. Over a period of six weeks researchers followed 147 full-time, dual-income heterosexual couples with children in the US to explore how home life influences work performance.

“Sometimes family life can feel like survival mode,” said Professor Yasin Rofcanin from the University of Bath’s Future of Work research centre. “But when people proactively and deliberately make changes – whether to childcare routines, to care of older relatives, or how domestic tasks are shared - they feel more capable and in control. That confidence can carry over into their work, helping them become more creative and adaptable.”