If you had the choice to work fewer than 5 days a week, would you? Most likely, your answer is yes, absolutely, without hesitation, without a doubt . Luckily for you, there’s an eye-opening study you might want to cite the next time you walk into your boss’s office to negotiate a new schedule or time off.
In 2016, economic researchers published a study in the Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series that found that, for workers over 40, a three-day workweek could yield the best results. Some of you are probably hearing this, and it simply confirms what you’ve known for years based on your own work-life balance. But how did they arrive at the magic number of three?
Is working three days a week really beneficial?
The University of Melbourne’s Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research invited 3,500 Australian women and 3,000 Australian men to have their work habits analyzed using a series of cognitive tests. These included: [1,2]
- Reading aloud
- Reciting lists of numbers backwards
- Matching letters and numbers under time pressure
After accounting for quality of life, economic well-being, family structure, and employment, the economic researchers found that those who worked an average of 25 hours per week tended to perform best. In fact, overall cognitive performance increased until individuals reached the 25-hour mark, at which point cognitive test scores began to decline due to fatigue and stress.
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