REAL LIFE NEWS: SEE, I TOLD YOU WORKING ALL WEEK WAS BAD FOR YOU!
by Hazed
When I was young, futurologists predicted that robots and automation would usher in a life of leisure for humans, who wouldn’t have to work more than a day or two each week. Oh, how wrong they were – we all seem to be working longer and longer hours.
But maybe we should be looking at reducing the working week, at least for middle-aged people, because a new study has shown that for people over 40 a three-day week results in them giving their best performance.
The research found that the cognitive performance of the middle-aged improves as the working week increased up to 25 hours a week, but when it went over that, overall performance decreased as “fatigue and stress” took effect.
The report was conducted on 3,000 men and 3,500 women in Australia, who were asked to complete a series of cognitive tests. The researchers also analysed their work habits.
They discovered that those working 25 hours a week performed best. Those who worked 55 hours a week showed results worse than retired or unemployed participants.
Given that in many countries the retirement age is being raised, this could have implications for the way people work. One of the study’s authors said, “The degree of intellectual stimulation may depend on working hours. Work can be a double-edged sword, in that it can stimulate brain activity, but at the same time long working hours can cause fatigue and stress, which potentially damage cognitive functions.
“We point out that differences in working hours are important for maintaining cognitive functioning in middle-aged and elderly adults. This means that, in middle and older age, working part-time could be effective in maintaining cognitive ability.”
See, I knew I was working too hard. If only there was a way to work less hours but still get paid the same.
I hope that employers don’t take this as an excuse to get rid of their older workers and replace them with young, fresh bodies who can be paid a lot less to work a lot more!
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/workers-over-40-perform-best-with-three-day-week-25-hours-melbourne-institute-study-a6988921.html
http://newsthump.com/2016/04/19/three-day-week-definitely-best-for-the-over-40s-insists-40-year-old-man/
