Working More Than 40 Hours a Week Makes You Less Productive, Not More
Sometimes you have to rack your brains and work overtime. While it can increase your productivity and help you get things done, in the long run – the last four weeks – long work weeks actually force us to do less.
The graph above is from Daniel Cook’s presentation Rules of Productivity posted on his Lostgarden blog. It shows how working 60 hours a week leads to a drop or drop in productivity that you have to recover from. He’s writing:
During a 60-hour crunch, people vaguely feel like they are doing worse, but they never think they should stop crunching. They think that working 40 hours a week will reduce their productivity. In fact, it will allow them to rest and increase their productivity.
This behavior is interesting to watch. Zombies stumble over their desk every morning. Flash of temperament. Errors are pouring in. But to turn back would be a betrayal.
Other studies support this , so if you can help, stop working during those long hours . If you are a salaried employee who does not get overtime, it is basically like free work .
Performance Presentation Rules | Lostgarden via Boing Boing and Medium