It’s 9 PM, and I’m writing this article. There’s something about this hour—quiet, focused, free from the interruptions of the day—that makes it perfect for getting meaningful work done. Turns out, I’m not alone.

New research from Google and Microsoft reveals a significant shift in work rhythms among developers, particularly those in hybrid and remote environments. Much like Microsoft’s earlier article describing the rise of the triple-peak day, this latest study confirms the trend: developers are now experiencing a third productivity peak around 9 PM, in addition to the traditional bursts of productivity mid-morning and mid-afternoon. 

I know what you’re thinking: they must be overworked. But the study explains how this is a varied phenomenon affected by the different types of working days: remote, hybrid, or on-site. I can best elaborate with my own experience.

My remote work allows me to take the breaks I need during the day, spacing out my productivity to best fit my schedule and own working style. The result? I’m not overworked. In fact, I feel more productive and less stressed when I work in this way. And now there’s data showing many other developers feel the same.

And this discovery isn’t just a curiosity. It’s a wake-up call for how engineering teams should re-think their approach to productivity, stress, and collaboration.

What the Data Tells Us About the Triple Peak

The research analyzed the work rhythms of developers across remote, onsite, and hybrid settings. Here’s what stood out to us:

Hybrid Days:

  • Show more fragmented productivity patterns due to interruptions like commutes.
  • Evening work often becomes a compensatory period to recover lost focus time, leading to more stress.

Onsite Days:

  • Tend to reflect more traditional “double-peak” productivity patterns (morning and afternoon) with less evening activity.
  • May limit flexibility, which could hinder opportunities for developers to align work with their natural rhythms to find peak productivity.

Remote Days:

  • Enable more consistent activity patterns, including the emergence of a prominent third peak in the evening.
  • Allow developers to align their work with personal rhythms, which may contribute to greater focus during evening hours.
shape of work, color-coded by the number of samples considered for each slice for remote (left), hybrid (center), and onsite (right) days. Bottom: Shape of work color-coded by the number of days considered for each slice (left), their average stress levels (center), and their average productivity levels (right).
J. Hernandez et al., "Triple Peak Day: Work Rhythms of Software Developers in Hybrid Work" in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. , no. 01, pp. 1-11, PrePrints 5555, doi: 10.1109/TSE.2024.3504831.

The Stress-Productivity Balance

The study validates the inverted U theory of productivity: stress can drive performance, but only to a point. Developers working long hours in hybrid or onsite days are more likely to feel burnt out rather than accomplished.

Fig. 5. Relationship between self-reported stress and productivity for multiple groups of days with a similar number of minutes of computer activity. The red continuous line shows a cubic interpolation and dashed red lines indicate the 95% prediction interval.
J. Hernandez et al., "Triple Peak Day: Work Rhythms of Software Developers in Hybrid Work" in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. , no. 01, pp. 1-11, PrePrints 5555, doi: 10.1109/TSE.2024.3504831.

This happens because productivity tends to peak at around 6 hours of computer activity per day, with performance declining beyond that point as stress increases. For on-site and hybrid workers bound by rigid schedules and commutes, this commonly pushes them beyond 6 hours of computer time by the end of the work day, so any evening work pushes them past their productivity peak and amps up their stress.

Fig. 2. Average computer activity pattern across different groups of days: all days (red), onsite (green), hybrid (yellow) and remote (blue). Grey areas indicate ± standard error.
J. Hernandez et al., "Triple Peak Day: Work Rhythms of Software Developers in Hybrid Work" in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. , no. 01, pp. 1-11, PrePrints 5555, doi: 10.1109/TSE.2024.3504831.

For on-site workers, this is less of an issue because they work less in the evenings. But because hybrid workers more commonly engage in catch-up and focus activities in the evening, this has a significant impact on their stress, which can lead to burnout. This phenomenon doesn’t happen to remote workers because they have the ability to preserve their focus and productivity time until what we now call the third peak.

So when late-night work is intentional and aligned with personal rhythms (as it often is on remote days), it becomes a powerful productivity boost.

How Engineering Leaders Can Respond

The challenge for leaders is how to harness this insight for their own team’s working schedule and style, enabling flexibility without fueling burnout. To adapt to the triple-peak day, leaders must rethink how they manage teams. Here’s how to make an impact:

  1. Focus on Outcomes: Ditch the time-clock mentality. Use metrics like DORA and SPACE to measure impact, not hours.
  2. Enable Flexibility: Equip teams with async tools and workflows that allow developers to work in their natural rhythms.
  3. Rethink Hybrid Days: Minimize disruptions with better scheduling and fewer onsite distractions.
  4. Protect Developer Well-Being: Set boundaries that encourage rest and make evening work optional, not expected.

The Future of Work Rhythms

The triple-peak workday represents more than a shift in when developers work—it’s a reflection of how work is changing. By aligning with these new rhythms, engineering leaders can create an environment where developers feel empowered, not overburdened.

The lesson is clear: don’t fight the triple peak—harness it. Embrace flexibility, prioritize results, and build teams that thrive in the hybrid age.