Individuals’ perception of time passage at work as slow (i.e., time drags) or fast (i.e., time flies) has been shown to affect job performance, with fast time passage typically associated with good performance while slow time passage linked to poor performance. However, this conclusion assumes that employees passively respond to their subjective time experiences and overlooks the possibility that they can actively regulate and react to such experiences. Drawing on theories of self-regulation and procrastination, we propose that both slow and fast subjective time progression may heighten employees’ attention to temporal cues and activate their regulatory processes, thereby reducing procrastination. In contrast, perceiving time as passing at an ordinary (i.e., moderate) pace may result in higher procrastination due to a lack of temporal regulation. This creates an inverted U-shaped relationship between subjective time progression and procrastination, which in turn, negatively affects task performance. Moreover, we suggest that work self-efficacy moderates the curvilinear relationship between subjective time progression and task performance through procrastination. Across two studies, we found support for our hypotheses. In Study 1 (a two-wave study, N = 1005), subjective time progression exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship with procrastination at between-person level. In Study 2 (an experience sampling study, daily N = 991 from 226 employees), similar effects were observed at within-person level, and work self-efficacy weakened the negative curvilinear indirect effect.
