Name: The 52-hour work week.
Age: Relatively new – our hunter-gatherer ancestors probably only worked for 15 hours a week.
Appearance: Frazzled.
How much is a 52-hour week, exactly? It works out to 10.4 hours a day, five days a week.
Mad. And stupid.
You’d have to be, right? A new study suggests those working more than 52 hours could suffer effects including “emotional instability or reduced cognitive efficiency in the longer term”.
So working too hard is bad for you. I’m shocked. Previous studies have shown that overwork leads to stress, anxiety and reduced cognitive function. But the new study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, also shows that working too hard produces physical changes in the brain.
What kind of changes? Increased brain volume in specific areas associated with executive function – cognitive skills – and emotional regulation in those working more than 52 hours a week, when compared with a non-overworked group.
So the more I work, the smarter and more emotionally regulated I get. That could be happening in the short term, but other studies have shown such increases in grey matter can have a negative impact on executive function.
Why have they settled on 52 hours? The study examined the brains of healthcare workers in South Korea, where the Korean Labour Standards Act identifies 52 hours a week as the critical threshold for increased health risk. Other studies have used 55 hours.
What about Britain? How much is too much? In the UK it’s illegal to make someone work more than 48 hours per week.
Not just illegal, but almost impossible – you’d probably have to come in on Fridays! But 48 hours is an average, normally calculated over 17 weeks. And there are exceptions.
What kind of exceptions? Those working in the armed forces, emergency services and police, for example.
Just the sort of people you’d want to have tip-top cognitive function, ironically. You can also opt out of the 48-hour week and work more hours, as long as you confirm that in writing.
I would consider doing that, if I was able to secure my dream job. What is your dream job?
Testing mattresses. I think you’ll find it’s more difficult than it sounds.
Do say: “I worked hard to get where I am today – emotionally unstable and cognitively impaired.”
Don’t say: “Do you ever do studies on people who work fewer than 20 hours a week? Because I’d like to sign up.”