And if you only worked 8 hours a week?
How many hours of work a week is considered ideal for preserving our mental health? If you do some research you will find that a lot of scientific articles have been published on this question recently. This is because people are getting sick, and so year by year there are more people off work for problems like depression, anxiety or burnout. Stress is the key cause of anxiety, and these days it’s hard to find anyone not suffering from some degree of stress. Almost always because of work. Long working hours are not the only thing people complain about in surveys. You have pressure to produce results, outside constraints, and the need to be always productive in order to be considered a good professional.
But how can we produce more, better results, if we are tired, under pressure, and living on a tightrope? This is no longer a sustainable model. When someone lives for their work, they don’t have time to look after themselves, and this leads to exhaustion, occupational stress and other mental health disturbances. Working too hard is bad for your physical and emotional health, it must be said.
Do you know how many hours a week this survey () found we can be both productive and happy? Eight. If we spread this over Monday to Friday it means just two [sic] hours of work a day. We know that this is far from being the case. But other studies have shown that a working week of 36 hours would be more efficient that the traditional 48 hours (8 hours a day, 6 days a week, which is what most people in companies do). It is thought that people produce more and better if they work fewer hours. This is what I do, and I can tell you: it’s true. If we are rested, we can be more productive and deliver much more even if the working week is shorter. Because if you’re healthy the work gets done much more happily.
Let me have your comments and tell me: how many hours a week do you work now? What do you think would be ideal?
