Research by the University of Melbourne shows that a 40-hour week is not really good. We are much more productive, and we recover much faster if we do not work more than 25 hours. Especially for people over 40, wherethe difference is significant.
In their Applied Economic and Social Research study of 6500 Australians aged 40 and over, they looked at the optimal number of hours a week an employee should work. Their findings were surprising, to say the least. Research showed that for every hour you work up to 25 hours a week, your cognitive function steadily increases. Any hours worked above that threshold sees a decline in cognitive function. They also say that workers over 40 who work more than 25 hours a week have a harder time recovering from any loss in cognitive function.
Researchers used data from the long-term Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to ascertain how time spent working affects the cognitive functioning of middle-aged and older people.
They cross-matched the number of hours people worked with the results from tests of their working memory, linguistic skills, concentration and information processing speed.
‘This suggests that in order to maximise your cognitive function of people, part-time work is better’, one of the researchers, Colin McKenzie, economics professor at Keio University in Japan, said. There were no statistical differences between the results for men and women.
‘For cognitive functioning, working far too much is worse than not working at all’, he said. ‘In the beginning, work stimulates the brain cells. The stress associated with work physically and psychologically kicks in at some point and that affects the gains you get from working’.
However, Professor McKenzie suspects working long hours is not as damaging for people under 40. ‘My personal guess is that the recovery function of the brain in younger people is a little bit different’, he said. ‘Younger people are more resilient… to working longer hours on a continued basis’.
‘The study results suggest that people in old age could maintain their cognitive ability by working in a part-time job that requires them to work around 20-30 hours per week’, the researchers said.
Sources: https://www.melbourneinstitute.com
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