How Long Is 21 Hours

When the COVID-xix pandemic began, many people with role jobs worked remotely for the showtime fourth dimension. At present, telework — or hybrid work models, which see employees splitting their time between the office and habitation — are the (new) norm. At first, the shift to remote piece of work might've felt strange, but, as time has gone on, many workers have discovered some unexpected piece of work-from-home benefits, namely that this kind of work schedule is a flake more flexible and convenient.

Despite the ongoing vaccine rollout, many Americans want the work-from-domicile option to stick around. Fifty-fifty more exciting? This move to remote work has opened up other conversations surrounding what'due south best for workers and their career/personal life balances. For instance, some employees are imploring their companies to not just develop amend telework policies but more robust time-off and vacation policies as well.

Workers and labor activists alike are because even larger, more sweeping changes. That is, this newfound demand for flexibility has many wondering if it's time to rethink the xl-60 minutes workweek. Is it time to cut down on working hours across the board? Here, nosotros'll discuss how shifting away from the stringent, long-standing 40-hr workweek can impact our health — both physical and mental — for the better.

Interestingly, in the United States, the workweek was once much longer than the standard 40 hours we know now. Amid the Industrial Revolution, workers were used to clocking 80–100 hours a calendar week, but, in 1817, labor unions and activists pushed to alter that. Subsequently all, life isn't all about piece of work — and working that much was simply unsustainable and unhealthy.

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It took decades of efforts, ranging from strikes to protests, but, somewhen, 8-hr workdays were put in place for government workers in 1869. Seeing this success, private-sector workers and unions pushed for the same, though many of those employers didn't adopt the viii-hour workday until the mid-1920s. In 1940, the 40-60 minutes workweek became police force in the U.S., marking a huge improvement for workers across the board. Withal, times have inverse and, at present, many are beginning to find that even 40 hours might be a fiddling likewise taxing.

A Shorter Workweek Could Better Mental Health

Although Americans have grown accepted to 40-60 minutes workweeks, at that place are certainly several benefits to having an fifty-fifty shorter workweek. After all, individuals are more than just employees; anybody has personal lives and hobbies, too, and committing too much of your energy to work tin can accept a toll on your emotional and mental wellness.

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If nosotros could work fewer hours a 24-hour interval — or accept some other total 24-hour interval off — there would be more room for a work-life balance. Instead of cramming errands, appointments, and social engagements into merely 2 days (or in the spaces betwixt meetings), we could plan less stringently and avert that feeling of racing from one affair to the next.

In turn, we'd feel more refreshed and more than well-rested. By building in fourth dimension off, employees might be less likely to telephone call out sick for their mental health or take an unexpected solar day off to accommodate appointments. And, in the wake of the pandemic, that flexibility sounds ameliorate than ever to folks who are reassessing what matters to them.

Cutting Hours on the Clock Could Help Productivity Levels

Just considering an employee is on the clock for eight hours, information technology doesn't mean they're working productively the entire time. If yous work eight hours a day, yous're probably well aware of this fact. Sometimes, your time gets interrupted past attention meetings, communicating with coworkers, and answering emails or telephone calls. Once you're interrupted, it can accept a while to become back on track. All of this to say, many of us are only working at our almost productively for four to six hours a solar day — not the full viii.

Trying to nourish Zoom meetings while doing other work? Well, the stress of a xl-hour workweek forces many of u.s.a. to multitask — perhaps to an unhealthy level. Just because you're juggling several tasks at once, that doesn't mean yous're checking them all (if whatever) off your list, nor are you giving anything your full attention. This can spill over into folks having bad boundaries when information technology comes to endmost their laptops and stepping away from their desks at the terminate of a end-and-go workday. Some of that difficulty with work boundaries comes from feeling "guilty" about non achieving enough — so, why non take some of the pressure off?

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These days, some companies in the U.S. are experimenting with 32-hour workweeks. Others are rearranging work schedules to provide employees with three days off. For example, Natalie Nagele, co-founder and CEO of Philadelphia-based software company Wildbit, moved the company to a four-day week in 2017. And so far, the shift has proven very successful.

"We had shipped more features than we had in recent years. We felt more productive [and] the quality of our work increased. So so we just kept going with it," Nagele shared with NPR. Having that shorter workweek allowed her and her squad to really rest — and, every bit an added bonus, it doesn't strength them to stick effectually and solve work problems when they should exist clocking off. "You tin inquire my team: at that place are multiple times where somebody is similar, 'On Sunday morning, I woke upwardly and… I figured it out," she stated.

Long Work Hours Can Be Detrimental to Physical Health equally Well

A study by the Australian National University published in the Social Science & Medicine showed that long hours not simply impact employees' mental wellness merely their concrete health as well. Dr. Huong Dinh, the lead researcher on the project, shared that, "long piece of work hours erode a person's mental and physical health because it leaves less time to eat and look after themselves properly."

Other consequences of long hours include poor eating habits and less sleep. Those 2 habits lone can lead to serious health problems over time, from decreased cognitive role to weight gain. Instituting a shorter workweek could help employees focus more than on taking better care of themselves. After all, it's often that self-care that nosotros cut from our schedules showtime when nosotros're too busy or stressed.

Other Countries Have Fewer Working Hours and Yet Boast Success

Outside of the scattering of companies in the U.S. that are forging ahead with shorter work weeks, other countries have seen their populations do good immensely from working fewer hours. For example, in The Netherlands employees piece of work an average of 27.five hours per week; the country boasts high incomes and a depression level of unemployment, and the government actively supports both professional and personal growth.

New Zealand workers are on the clock for iv days each week, merely they still receive five days' worth of pay. Fifty-fifty earlier the pandemic, the country'due south government encouraged flexible working arrangements and shorter workweeks. Even with fewer working hours, employees still have the aforementioned level of productivity — but there'southward the added bonus of less stress and greater workplace satisfaction. Moreover, in recent years, organizations based in Sweden started to experiment with a 6-hour working day to keep employees happy and increase productivity. Subsequent research found that employees were still able to complete their duties, and were better off emotionally, mentally and physically. In the UK, three companies – Hutch, MBL Seminars, and Yo Telecom – will initiate a six-calendar month-long 4-day workweek trial this June.

Though other logistics come into play, companies may want to consider shortening their work weeks in the near future. At the very least, there may need to be more flexibility, be information technology allowing for remote piece of work, hybrid schedules or more time off. All of this to say, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced employees to rethink what's important to them — and, finally, they are starting to cull their wellness over their jobs.

Resource Links:

"Could a shorter workweek heave employee productivity?" via Insperity
"The Evolution of the 40-Hour Work Week and Its Impact on Mental Wellness" via CBT Baltimore
"Savor The Actress Day Off! More Bosses Give 4-Day Workweek A Attempt" via NPR
"60 minutes-glass ceilings: Work-hour thresholds, gendered wellness inequities" via Social Scientific discipline & Medicine
"The Time to come of Piece of work: How working 40 hours a week is killing your mental health" via Ladders
"Work-Life Balance — Kingdom of the netherlands" via Business Culture
"A 4-Mean solar day Workweek for 5 Days' Pay? Unilever New Zealand Is the Latest to Try" via The New York Times
"Sweden tested out a 6-hr workday — and it mostly worked" via Business Insider
"Iii Great britain firms sign up to 6-month four-day working calendar week trial" via The Guardian