Can you imagine working a 60 hour work week? Its unthinkable, but it was a common reality a few decades ago. A few decades from now, the 40 hour work week may regarded with same disbelief. Many companies in Sweden are testing out 6 hour work days, they have also decreased the frequency of distractions such as meetings, and social media. They found th
at instead of decreased productivity due to s
horter hours, companies that implemented the policy had more efficient workers that boosted productivity. By decreasing the amount of time required to be at work, people were more focused and more inclined to finish their work quickly to get home to their families. It also boosted cohesion within the company, as co-workers began to value social interaction between each other a lot more.
If many studies suggest that a 6 hour work week actually boosts productivity and makes for more happy employees why don’t more companies experiment with this strategy? Some companies are afraid of being labeled as lazy or somehow less hard working than their 8 hour counterparts. While this might not be true in some parts of the world, it is certainly true in East Asia and parts of the U.S that have a brutal Work culture. In East Asia, in countries like Japan there exists an honor system where employees are expected to work a lot of overtime, often unpaid, even on the weekends. In the U.S, many believe that working hard will land you the American Dream, while this can be true, this gives rise to the misconception that ONLY by sacrificing valuable free-time and working a ridiculous amount of hours would you achieve success. This is simply not true, working smart is often cited to be more important by researchers and prominent businessmen.
The average human attention span only lasts around 5O minutes, after that point we lose focus and productivity. That is Just human nature, and its fruitless to expect workers to constantly work at an 10/10 level when they are overworked. instead of rattling their brains for complex solution to increase productivity, CEO’s around the world should just decrease mandatory work hours, as something as simple as that could be more efficient than any other solution.
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Source:
https://www.gobankingrates.com/personal-finance/history-40-hour-work-week-its-effects-economy/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-introduces-six-hour-work-day-a6674646.html
