Chronotype and Work Schedule Misalignment: Evidence on Productivity from Survey Data

Chronotype and work schedule alignment have emerged as important determinants of workplace performance. This study investigates whether a mismatch between employees? biological preferences and actual work start times reduces productivity and how flexible work arrangements may mitigate these effects. The analysis is based on survey data from 507 respondents, collected using the standardized Morningness?Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and questions on self-perceived productivity, morning difficulties, and the impact of remote work. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze chronotype work schedule misalignment and its implications for productivity in a Central European context. Respondents were classified into chronotype categories, and the gap between their preferred and actual work start times was used to quantify the degree of misalignment. Multivariate regression models were applied to estimate the effect of misalignment on perceived productivity and the estimated productivity gain if work schedules were adjusted to biological optima. The findings indicate that employees whose schedules align with their chronotype report higher productivity, whereas misalignment particularly among evening types required to start early is associated with lower performance and reduced perceived efficiency. Model estimates indicate that aligning work start times with chronotype increases productivity by more than 10% in some cases. Remote work partially mitigated the negative effects of misalignment, which can be attributed to greater flexibility. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of considering chronotype diversity in work scheduling to enhance both productivity and employee well-being.