How Many Hours Is Enough Work?

For decades, organizations around the world have studied how work weeks are structured, seeking to find the optimal balance of time on and off that promotes maximum efficiencies and effective decision making. A little known fact is that during the Industrial Revolution, persons worked 10-to-16-hour days as a normal work day. Ford was the first company to experiment with having their employees work an eight-hour day. Within two years, their profit margins doubled as they found that their workers were not only more productive per hour, but overall.

Recently Jamaica introduced legislation to govern flexible work arrangements to support the country’s ability to compete and survive in the global economy.

The reality is we spend significant amounts of time outside of the office space conducting work related tasks, such as phone calls and emails, This time, which is facilitated largely by increased use of technology, is usually not measured or included in official work hours. It is no secret that the majority of our time awake is consumed with work related thoughts, even if they are in our deep subconsciousness.

Could it be that we have a constant fear of under performing? Do we feel that without being always available we are risking our job security? Do these fears push our stress levels to the extent that many of our peers have fallen ill? Are we depriving out bodies of enough rest to recuperate?

In my opinion, flexibility in work hours is not an exact science. Instead of looking at daily set schedules, work hours could be tied to a total hours per month or year. This would allow for external factors such as mental health, family, stress levels and other individually related matters which affect performance over a day or week to be balanced out, leading to a more productive employer – and a happier and more balanced individual.

What are your opinions on this?

See link to article which provoked my thoughts on his subject –http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190429-the-australian-company-that-banned-work-on-wednesdays

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