As reported by Onet, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy intensifies work on shortening the working week. Statutory solutions, consulted with experts, trade unions and employers are at stake. Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk emphasizes that it is not just about Work-Life Balance, but about a fair distribution of economic growth effects. Can we really work less?
Sitting at the desk for many hours is still a synonym of commitment for many. Meanwhile, the data of Stanford University show something completely different. In the “The Productivity of Working Hours” study, John Pencavel proved that after exceeding 50 hours of work, productivity begins to fall dramatically. After 55 hours – an additional effort does not properly bring any benefits. More does not mean better, and exactly the same, only with greater fatigue and a greater risk of error.
The OECD data shows that countries that work shorter – like Germany or Denmark – have a higher hourly productivity than countries where the work ethos is measured by the length of day. Poland, although at the forefront in terms of the number of hours worked, still stands out in terms of efficiency. And yet she should be the main measure of the quality of work, not the number of hours on the calendar.
Fatigue costs. And literally. The Rand Europe report estimates that sleep shortage and chronic fatigue cost the US economy over $ 400 billion a year. This is not only a lower concentration and a slower pace of work, but also more errors, a decrease in commitment and absence. In the long run – also burnout, which is increasingly considered a civilization threat.
Experiments that change the rules of the game
Although in Poland conversations about shortening working time are still only a postulate, in other countries they have already undergone a test of fire.
In Great Britain, the pilot program of the four -day work week covered 61 companies and almost three thousand employees. It lasted half a year – and ended with a result that nobody expected. Or rather: the result that confirmed what many intuitively sensed.
Productivity of companies did not drop – in many cases it even increased. The number of absences decreased by more than half, and the level of burnout dropped by as much as 71 percent. The people declared that they were sleeping better, they were less likely, and their relations with loved ones have improved. 92 percent The companies decided to continue the 4-day work week after the tests were completed, of which almost a third-permanently.
Similar conclusions come from tests in Iceland. As reported by the BBC, a shorter work week was considered “overwhelming success”. Today, over 80 percent local employees have the right to a reduced work dimension – without reducing remuneration.
In Japan, in which work culture for decades was based on long overtime, Microsoft introduced a 4-day work week as part of the experiment and recorded a 40 % increase in productivity.
A common denominator? Companies have stopped treating time as the main currency of commitment. Instead of counting the hours, they started counting the effects.
Less is more. But only if we know how to work
Of course, a shorter work week will not solve all problems by itself. If we remove the meeting from the calendar on Friday, but for the other four days we will continue to jump between the messenger, email and the presentation, not much will change. That is why productivity experts today talk not only about working time, but about its quality.
Cal Newport, a professor of computer science and author of the book “Deep Work”, argues that not multitasking brings real value in mental work, but deep concentration – that is, the ability to focus on one task for a long time. The problem is that the average employee at the computer interrupts the work every ten minutes. And any such dispersion means a loss: according to research – up to 23 minutes to enter the focus mode again.
Greg McKEown in the best -selling “Essentialist” presents a similar approach. In his opinion, the crucial is not time discipline, but the discipline of choice – that is, conscious limitation to actions that are of real meaning. Instead of doing everything, doing what is important. Instead of expanding the list of tasks, learning to let go.
Also in Poland, this topic breaks into the mainstream – even thanks to Radosław Kotarski, who in the book “differently” refutes the myth that good work must be hard and long -lasting, showing scientific ways for better organization and regeneration.
Technology in the service of wise work
The data of the World Economic Forum shows that technologies related to artificial intelligence, automation and autonomous systems will have a key impact on how we will work. By 2030, the share of work performed by people is to fall from 47 to 34 percent, and by machines – increase from 22 to 33 percent. In other words: in a few years only a third of tasks will be carried out only by man.
The results of the experiments show that something is changing. Shortening working time ceases to be a revolution and becomes a reasonable direction of development. However, shortening the work week without changing the way of working is only a different calendar arrangement.
If we do not learn to work differently – with greater mindfulness, better energy management and respect until our own and others – the change will not solve anything. But if we treat it as an impulse for remodeling the work system, we can gain more than we expect.
