Truth be told, almost all of us dislike the five-day work week. According to Travel and Leisure, if you need a reason to work less, science is here to back you up, but only if you are older than 40.
Namely, a report from the Melbourne Institute Worker Paper points out that people over the age of 40 are at their productive peak when they work three days per week or less. Let us find out more about what the research showed.
People over 40 Need to Work Less than 5 Days per Week
The researchers followed closely 3000 men and 3500 women volunteers who were required to complete cognitive tests and also their memory, work habits, and abstract and executive reasoning were tested. For the purposes of the cognitive tests, the volunteers needed to read texts backwards, read words aloud, and match letters and numbers in a specific time frame. Their cognitive performance bettered as the working hours were elevated up to 25 hours; however, after 25 hours, the performance reduced in both the men and women.
Moreover, those who worked 55 hours per week had much worse results than the unemployed or retired volunteers.
According to the co-author of the study and professor at the Keio University, Colin McKenzie, the level of intellectual stimulation may be dependent on the working hours and therefore, work can be an sword with double edges, i.e. it may encourage brain activity but at the same time, working too much can elevate the levels of stress and tiredness and damage the cognitive functions.
McKenzie points out that their research shows that working hour differences are pivotal for a good cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly people and part-time work may be beneficial in preserving the cognitive capacity.
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