Quarter-End Pressure: How to Get Through the Last Two Weeks

Abstract

This article is about quarter-end pressure and what research says about getting through a hard stretch. Three pieces of research bear on it. A four-week weekly survey of 133 employees (Binnewies, Sonnentag and Mojza, 2010) found that switching off, relaxing and learning something new at the weekend predicted feeling recovered on Monday, which predicted better work on the job. A meta-analytic test (LePine, Podsakoff and LePine, 2005) found that stressors that block people hurt performance, while stressors that challenge people can raise it, with costs and benefits offsetting each other. A review (Sonnentag, 2018) describes a recovery paradox: recovery is harder to achieve when job stressors are high. None of these studied finance staff. The three steps at the end are practical readings, not tested methods, and this article is not medical advice.

Nine days to the close

It is the third week of the last month of the quarter. The reconciliations are late, two people are off sick, and the forecast has changed twice since Monday.

You decide you will rest properly once the numbers are filed. In the meantime you work through the evenings and think about quarter-end pressure only as something to survive.

Quarter-end pressure: what is the evidence?

The research cited here does not say how to run a close. It covers a short field study of weekend recovery, a meta-analytic test of two kinds of stressor, and a review of why recovery fails when you most need it. The studies used employees in a range of jobs, and none was limited to finance. The next three sections cover what each one found. None of them tested the three steps at the end.

What a weekly survey of weekend recovery found

Binnewies, Sonnentag and Mojza (2010) followed 133 employees. They asked them to complete surveys every week for four weeks. They measured how people spent the weekend, how recovered they felt at the start of the week, and how they worked during it.

Psychological detachment from work, relaxation and mastery experiences at the weekend predicted feeling recovered at the start of the following week. Feeling recovered then predicted better task performance, more personal initiative, more helping behaviour at work and less perceived effort. The abstract gives no coefficients. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read your weekends before the close through this. People who switched off, relaxed or learned something outside work started the next week better recovered, and worked better. This is an inference. It is one survey design, so it cannot prove that the weekend caused the Monday, and the abstract does not say how large the effects were.

What a meta-analytic test of two kinds of stress found

LePine, Podsakoff and LePine (2005) tested a framework that separates challenge stressors from hindrance stressors. Challenge stressors are demands such as a heavy workload that people can grow from. Hindrance stressors are obstacles that block progress.

Hindrance stressors had a negative direct effect on performance. Challenge stressors had a positive direct effect, but they also had negative indirect effects through strain, offset by positive indirect effects through motivation. The abstract gives no figures. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read the list of everything that is wrong with the close through this. Some of it is hard but useful, and some of it only gets in the way. This is an inference. The sorting is the authors' framework, and whether a given stressor is a challenge or a hindrance depends on the person.

What a review of the recovery paradox found

Sonnentag (2018) reviews how job stressors affect well-being, day to day and over longer periods. Recovery activities such as psychological detachment from work, physical exercise and sleep can protect well-being.

The review describes a recovery paradox. Although high stressors call for effective recovery, recovery processes are impaired when job stressors are high. It presents explanations for the paradox, discusses what makes it stronger or weaker, and suggests directions for research. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read your own sleepless week through this. The weeks that most need recovery are the weeks when it is hardest to get. This is an inference. It is a review article, so it does not offer a single test, and the abstract does not name a specific remedy.

Quarter-end pressure: three steps

None of these is a tested method, and none was studied in finance teams. They combine what the research points to with ordinary practice. Where a step goes beyond the research, it says so.

1. Protect one recovery habit during the last two weeks, and decide it in advance. The weekend study linked detachment to recovery, and the review says recovery gets harder under pressure. Waiting until you feel like it may not work. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Laptop closed at 20:00 on Thursday and all day Saturday. I decide this on Monday, not on the night."

2. Sort the pile into hard but useful, and blocked. The framework separates demands that stretch people from obstacles that stall them. Spend your effort on getting obstacles moved, and accept the demands that stretch. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "Three blockers: the missing intercompany confirmation, the unclear owner of accruals and the late data feed. Each gets a name and a date."

3. Ask for the one thing that would remove a hindrance, and ask early. Obstacles often sit with someone else. A specific request is easier to answer than a general complaint. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "If Ana can confirm the intercompany balance by Wednesday, I can close the second ledger on time."

If the close follows you home, Month-End Close Stress: Why It Comes Home With You goes into that. For the end of the year, there is Year-End Close Stress in Finance: What Wears You Down. When you cannot stop thinking about work in the evening, see Why You Can't Switch Off From Work: What the Research Says. If the deadline itself is the problem, How to Push Back on an Unrealistic Deadline in Finance is about that. And Finance Director Stress: Where the Pressure Comes From looks at the wider load.

Questions People Ask

Is quarter-end pressure the same as burnout?

No. Pressure around a deadline is a demand that rises and falls. Burnout is a longer pattern of exhaustion. The studies cited here did not measure burnout, and this article cannot tell you which one you have.

Should I work through the weekend to finish the close?

The weekend study linked detachment, relaxation and mastery at the weekend to better recovery and better work the following week. It does not say what to do about a specific deadline. The trade-off is yours to weigh.

Are all stressors bad for performance?

Not in the framework cited here. Hindrance stressors lowered performance, while challenge stressors raised it directly but also added strain. The sorting depends on the person, and a task one person finds energising can block another.

Can coaching help me through the close?

Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It can help you plan recovery and sort what is blocking you. It is not treatment. No study cited here tested coaching.

When it is more than a hard fortnight

A hard fortnight is one thing. It is more when it does not ease after the close, when you cannot sleep, when you feel numb, persistently low or anxious, or when you notice physical symptoms. In those cases talk to your doctor, your occupational health service or a qualified mental health professional. This article is not medical advice. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It is not treatment and not a substitute for it.

Sources

• Binnewies, C., Sonnentag, S., & Mojza, E. J. (2010). Recovery during the weekend and fluctuations in weekly job performance: A week-level study examining intra-individual relationships. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(2), 419–441. DOI: 10.1348/096317909X418049 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• LePine, J. A., Podsakoff, N. P., & LePine, M. A. (2005). A meta-analytic test of the challenge stressor-hindrance stressor framework: An explanation for inconsistent relationships among stressors and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 48(5), 764–775. DOI: 10.5465/AMJ.2005.18803921 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• Sonnentag, S. (2018). The recovery paradox: Portraying the complex interplay between job stressors, lack of recovery, and poor well-being. Research in Organizational Behavior, 38, 169–185. DOI: 10.1016/j.riob.2018.11.002 (Summarised from the published abstract.)