Experts Say People Over 40 Should Only Work 3 Days a Week

We all love to take vacations and holidays, but most people wouldn’t think they could get away with shortening their workweek, no matter how much they want to. However, some experts claim that after people reach a certain age, only working 3 days a week could benefit both their mental health and their production.

We at Bright Side took a look into these findings and found out about all the health benefits of working less.

During a 2016 University of Melbourne study, researchers analyzed thousands of workers, including 3,502 women and 2,965 men in Australia. Certain work habits were highlighted with reasoning tests, including reading words and lists of numbers.

Even after taking the quality of life issues into account, the researchers found that people’s work performance peaked after an average of 25 hours per week, and this is also where cognitive scores were their highest. In turn, these increased abilities could help people improve their quality of work.

One of the researchers, Colin McKenzie, a professor of economics at Keio University, explained that long working hours can help stimulate brain power, but with the risk of hurting “cognitive functions” through “fatigue and stress.”

The study suggests that people who worked longer hours, had lower cognitive abilities than people who were not even working. As Lancaster University Management School’s Geraint Johnes pointed out, a decline in cognitive abilities actually declined most rapidly after 40 hours per week.

Obviously, not everyone is in full control of how many hours they can work and there are jobs where workers are needed around the clock. That said, this study emphasizes the importance of taking care to avoid being overworked and giving employees time for themselves. All in all, it is important to remember that even a good thing, like a good work ethic, can be taken to the extreme.

Would you be happy working for just 3 days a week? Do you have a job that you’d be happy working at 7 days a week? Let us know and share your stories!