Science and life: How many hours a day you can work effectively
Alexandra Savina
SCIENTIFIC DATA EXIST NOT ONLY IN THE SPHERE OF THEORY: many of them are quite capable of improving our lives, or at least explain how it works. Today we understand how long a working day should last and how to make it more productive.
When we spend more hours at work, we do not necessarily work better - our productivity has a limit
Most of us are accustomed to working five days a week, eight hours a day, from nine to six, with an hour break for lunch - but is this the ideal way to work? Researchers often question the well-established pattern. For example, economist John Maynard Keynes, back in 1928, predicted that by 2030, the 15-hour work week would become the norm, and in the 1960s Hermann Kahn said that in the future Americans will have 13 weeks of vacation a year, day a week.
In the spring, the data of the Swedish experiment were published, which casts doubt on the classical model: the staff of the Swartedalens hospital switched over to a six-hour working day, while receiving the same salary. During the first year, the program helped to achieve excellent results: according to the report, workers began to take less time off, their productivity and health indicators increased and they began to work more efficiently. A similar model was introduced by several other Swedish companies.
Proponents of this approach say that when we spend more hours at work, we do not necessarily work better - our productivity has a certain limit. Data from a study published in American Journal of Epidemiology, for example, showed that employees who worked more than 55 hours a week coped with the tests less effectively than those who worked 40 hours. This idea seems obvious, but no less important: we know from our own experience that processing badly affects our health and productivity. Scientists agree with this view: a study whose data were published last year in the journal Lancet showed that people who work 55 hours a week or more, the risk of stroke is 33% higher and the risk of developing coronary disease is 13% higher heart compared to those who work the standard 35-40 hours. Researchers say they can’t say for sure that refining causes stroke and heart disease - but there’s a connection between them.
In addition, some scientists point out that it may be useful for us to start working later. The data of a two-year-old study showed that the later we come to the office, the better we get enough sleep: a person who comes to work an hour later, sleeps 20 minutes longer, and every additional hour increases the sleep time by another 20 minutes
Finally, some researchers say that not the length of the working day, but how we structure it is important for the greatest productivity. For example, according to an experiment conducted last year, it is most productive to work for 52 minutes, and then take a 17-minute break.