2023-05-03 13:34:14
Eight years ago, a survey of 1,989 British employees produced a startling finding. When asked how many hours of their day they spent working productively, the average response was two hours and 53 minutes. The rest of the time – more than five hours – they spent checking social networks, reading the news or chatting with friends. At a pre-conscious level, they might have understood something about the nature of the jobsuggests the magazine Wired .
In the era of 24/7 efficiency, some disciplines advance on a counter-intuitive theory, but one that adds evidence: working less and relaxing more each day can become such a valuable asset that it may even hold the secret to true productivity.
4-day workday: a long shot for Argentina?
In his research into the lives of the highest achievers in their careers, Stanford University professor Alex Pang found that many of them they did not work more than four hours a day. Charles Darwin, for example, he would study for three hours in the morning, take a nap, take a long walk, write letters, and resume his workday no more than 90 minutes before dinner. Even so -or perhaps precisely because of this- she managed to write The origin of speciesone of the most important scientific works in history.
“These people took long vacations and had hobbies; their daily lives were much more relaxed than ours,” Pang insists. A languid rhythm can produce great results, because rest allows us to protect mental resources, creating favorable conditions for reflection and creativity. Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher at the University of California, adds that naps improve alertness, help consolidate information and regulate emotions. Even moderate procrastination seems to have its advantages, as a way of giving rise to the demand for more time and mental space.
Labor Day: between GPT and CGT
These theories do not imply permission to hang on Netflix or on the networks indefinitely either. Those geniuses who didn’t work to death dedicated their time to another kind of productivity: they played sports, played instruments, painted, or chatted with friends and colleagues in search of profound truths. A kind of “regenerative rest”, driven by activities designed to stimulate body and soul.
Although times have changed and the Puritan ethic still rules most workplaces, these teachings could work for a changing world. The eight hours locked in partitioned boxes seem to be part of an outdated dynamic. If the pandemic has taught anything, it is that work can be done in many different ways, especially in an age when we are guardians of our own productivity.
AO JL
You may also like
#working #secret #greater #productivity