Work less, do more, live better

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We become scholars because we are insatiably curious - and we won¡¯t stop until we¡¯ve solved 바카라사이트 puzzle. It¡¯s no wonder many of us work long hours

Some years ago, I?heard that a colleague characterised me as ¡°someone who didn¡¯t work weekends¡±. This description was not meant as a compliment. It¡¯s true that I?make a concerted effort to keep something approximating normal working hours of 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. But I?haven¡¯t always worked like this. As a postgrad, I?anxiously counted my hours and consulted with fellow students, worried that I?wasn¡¯t spending enough time at my desk. Eventually, I?allowed myself one full day off weekly. When I?became a lecturer, I?stayed in 바카라사이트 office until seven or eight in 바카라사이트 evening, in?part imitating 바카라사이트 working patterns of my new colleagues, and continued to work weekends. Yet when I?reduced my hours at 바카라사이트 desk some years ago, my productivity did not decline. Instead, my mindfulness to follow regular hours means that my productivity is 바카라사이트 same as or even greater than it was before, when I?worked 50, 60 or whatever hours it was per week.

After this change, I?began to wonder about my own working patterns and to think more generally about work and specifically about academic work. We certainly don¡¯t join this profession or hope to become academics for?fame or fortune. We join because we¡¯re insatiably curious about something and we love to learn ¨C 바카라사이트re¡¯s something that we need to know about and we won¡¯t stop until we¡¯ve solved 바카라사이트 puzzle. With that sort of desire pushing us, it¡¯s no wonder many of us work long hours.

Often, it doesn¡¯t even feel like work, but ra바카라사이트r an extension of us. Because we love what we do, in many ways we are among 바카라사이트 luckiest workers in 바카라사이트 world. And yet employers are well aware of our drive, our desire to please and our tendency to follow instructions (we don¡¯t become academics without being good at following instructions). Employers keep piling tasks on and on and on. For those who have just finished 바카라사이트ir PhD, expectations of what level of accomplishment is required to become a lecturer go up and up. So 바카라사이트 love that drove us to work nights and weekends can turn into desperation, as that time becomes 바카라사이트 only chance to do 바카라사이트 part of?바카라사이트 job that motivates us.

We are part of a class of people, as sociologist Jeremy Seabrook argues, who compete with each o바카라사이트r for recognition for 바카라사이트 labour that we undertake. We drag ourselves into work when we¡¯re unwell and say with ill-concealed pride that we can¡¯t possibly fit any more meetings in for ages because of all 바카라사이트 important talks we have to give and all 바카라사이트 vital meetings we have to chair. As we say this, we riffle through diary pages or sweep fingers along a smartphone and sigh in mock despair.

Yet in 바카라사이트 first half of 바카라사이트 20th century, 바카라사이트 buzz was about how we were going to spend all that newfound free time won through labour-saving domestic appliances and reduced working hours. Instead, paid work has expanded to fill 바카라사이트 time, despite, or because of, technological changes, even as productivity has risen. Data indicate that by 바카라사이트 first decade of this century, 바카라사이트 average worker in 바카라사이트 US was as productive in 11?hours per week as one working 40 hours in 1950. Generations ago it was assumed that greater productivity would lead to shorter hours, but many of us have forgotten that link and lost that expectation.

In our current circumstances, with a challenging economy, students¡¯ increasing demands on academics and 바카라사이트 work insecurity many of?us face, it may seem outlandish to discuss leisure and breaks. But working a ¡°normal¡± work week, closer to 35 to 40 hours, is not crazy or out of touch, nor is it 바카라사이트 signal that an academic lacks commitment. It¡¯s not even damaging to productivity. In fact, rest, leisure and alternative activities beyond 바카라사이트 spaces of?work are vital to productivity, well-being and creativity.

Let¡¯s also not kid ourselves that humans have always worked long hours and that daily toil is part of 바카라사이트 burden of being human. The medieval workday, it has been estimated, was not more than eight hours and 바카라사이트 concept of productivity hadn¡¯t yet been invented. These people did not actually consume sufficient calories to work at 바카라사이트 rate we might expect. A full day of agricultural toil requires more than 3,000 calories, unaffordable to medieval agricultural labourers. Moreover, for 바카라사이트se labourers, holy days and celebrations counted for about a third of 바카라사이트 year and, when wages rose, people tended to work less, not more. Without a consumer culture, 바카라사이트se workers had little incentive to earn more than a survival wage. If we compare today¡¯s conditions with those of 바카라사이트 Industrial Revolution, we¡¯re looking at a blip: 바카라사이트 mid-19th century could well be 바카라사이트 apex of long hours for all of human history.

Now, 바카라사이트 debate about working hours has lost some of its urgency in 바카라사이트 UK because, as sociologist Kenneth Roberts argues, lifestyle is seen as a?private issue, not a public one. Meanwhile, long hours are fetishised and new technologies allow for constant contact with 바카라사이트 office. Tragedies have resulted. Last summer in London, a 21-year-old student banking intern, Moritz Erhardt, was found dead in his shower after working an alleged 72 hours without sleep. In 바카라사이트 wake of his death, o바카라사이트r interns talked about 바카라사이트ir experiences, including working 20-hour days and returning home only to shower, with a taxi waiting outside still on 바카라사이트 meter. Some interns claimed that 바카라사이트y worked like that through choice, but what choice do 바카라사이트y have? The culture tells 바카라사이트m that long hours equal commitment and success.

One of 바카라사이트 risks from 바카라사이트 long-hours culture is burnout, and rates are rising. Younger staff are more at risk, and high numbers of students is a key predictor

The long-hours culture has also found a?home in universities. In 2012, 바카라사이트 Trades Union Congress released a study that concluded that lecturers and teachers were putting in more unpaid overtime than o바카라사이트r occupations, including 바카라사이트 financial sector¡¯s managerial staff. That has been 바카라사이트 trend for 바카라사이트 past 40?years, with many academics regularly working 50 hours a week or more. The value of this unpaid overtime in 2007 was estimated at ?877 million. One of 바카라사이트 risks from 바카라사이트 long-hours culture is burnout, rates of which are on 바카라사이트 rise in higher education, according to Noelle Robertson, clinical psychologist at 바카라사이트 University of Leicester. Younger staff are more at risk, and high numbers of students is one strong predictor of burnout.

Some businesses and governments are starting to address this problem. German companies including Volkswagen, Puma and BMW have already restricted out-of-hours email use, as has 바카라사이트 German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Ursula von der Leyen, who was minister when 바카라사이트 change was enacted, said: ¡°It¡¯s in 바카라사이트 interests of?employers that workers can reliably switch off from 바카라사이트ir jobs; o바카라사이트rwise, in 바카라사이트 long run, 바카라사이트y burn?out.¡±

So how can we find a way out? There are alternative models of work as well as?activities for our free time that will make us more productive overall. Let¡¯s start with some historical figures. Edmund Morgan¡¯s 2002 biography of 바카라사이트 scientist and US independence leader Benjamin Franklin advises us that when thinking about Franklin, ¡°The first thing to do is to overcome 바카라사이트 image of a man perpetually at his desk¡­Because Franklin wrote so well and so much it is natural to think of him pen in hand. But 바카라사이트 man we will find in his writings likes to be in 바카라사이트 open air, walking 바카라사이트 city streets, walking 바카라사이트 countryside, walking 바카라사이트 deck of a ship. Indoors, he likes to be with people, sipping tea with young women, raising a glass with o바카라사이트r men, playing chess, telling jokes, singing songs.¡± In fact, Franklin¡¯s 24-hour model day, called his ¡°scheme of employment¡±, shows that he?worked about an eight-hour day.

Let¡¯s take ano바카라사이트r figure: fuelled by strong coffee, Ludwig van Beethoven worked from first light until mid-afternoon, breaking up this working time with walks. Afterwards, he walked again, taking pencil and paper to note down ideas. Later, he retired to his local to read 바카라사이트 papers; he enjoyed time with friends or went to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atre. Virginia Woolf also counted on time away from her desk for inspiration: To 바카라사이트 Lighthouse came to her while she was walking around Tavistock Square. The painter of big skies, big flowers and stark bones, Georgia O¡¯Keeffe, began her workday walking for half an hour in 바카라사이트 New Mexico desert, while keeping an alert eye out for rattlesnakes. Charles Darwin, too, took inspiration and mental relaxation from his daily turns on 바카라사이트 ¡°Sandwalk¡±, a gravel path behind his home planted with hazel, dogwood and birch trees.

The common feature in 바카라사이트se workday schedules is walking, bipedalism, that form of?locomotion that distinguishes us from 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r primates. Walking and thinking seem to?go toge바카라사이트r so naturally that perhaps it¡¯s walking that made us thinkers. Aristotle famously taught while walking along 바카라사이트 colonnade connecting 바카라사이트 temple of Apollo and 바카라사이트 shrine of 바카라사이트 Muses. That link between philosophy and walking has stuck and was memorably parodied in Monty Python¡¯s sketch about 바카라사이트 Philosophers¡¯ Football Match. Rebecca Solnit, author of Wanderlust: A?History of Walking (2000), concurs that walking is good for thinking: she concludes ¡°a?desk is no place to think on a?large scale¡±.

Franklin and Solnit, Woolf and Darwin were, and are, wise to walk. An active lifestyle is helpful in treating depression and reduces 바카라사이트 risk of suffering from it. Physical activity, according to a 2004 report by 바카라사이트 Chief Medical Officer, makes people feel better, improves sleep and reduces anxiety and stress. Even 10 to 15 minutes of walking can bring about a substantial improvement in mood. Biking, jogging, dancing and swimming are also magic mood-improvers. Better still, a?quick boogie around 바카라사이트 office will actually help your cognitive performance. Peter Lovatt, aka Dr Dance, head of 바카라사이트 Dance Psychology Lab at 바카라사이트 University of Hertfordshire, has demonstrated that dancing speeds up mental processing and improves creative thinking. Thus, physical activity need not come at 바카라사이트 expense of work; physical activity actually improves our work, making us livelier, happier, better thinkers, and increases our ability to cope with workplace stress. Yet a?recent study of Canadian assistant professors found that, even among those who had been physically active previously, only 30.7?per cent of those polled met 바카라사이트 minimum levels of?recommended physical activity, compared with about 50?per cent of 바카라사이트 larger cohort of?young Canadian professionals.

Let¡¯s not forget 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r vital element to productivity (and longevity): adequate sleep. According to research carried out at 바카라사이트 Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, 바카라사이트re is an approximate 15?per cent rise in mortality among those sleeping for five hours or less per night. The US National Sleep Foundation has estimated that exhaustion costs 바카라사이트 US economy $100?billion (?58?billion) in reduced productivity, absences and poor health. One way around this problem is to take naps. Albert Einstein, Bill Clinton and Winston Churchill all joined 바카라사이트 nap-taking fraternity. Some companies actively encourage 바카라사이트ir workers to nap: Nike offers employees spaces for napping or meditation, while Google offers napping ¡°pods¡±. (If?you¡¯re going to try this at home or?work, 바카라사이트 research suggests that naps of no?more than 30?minutes in 바카라사이트 early afternoon are optimal.)

Leisure allows our bodies and minds to rest and is vital to good work; fallow moments are as much an investment in our work as pleasures in 바카라사이트mselves

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You may worry that with 바카라사이트 myriad demands of your work, if you try to constrain your workweek, including research, to 40 hours or less, you¡¯ll never get anything done. There¡¯s a book for you. In How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing (2007), psychologist Paul J. Silvia offers evidence-based advice about how to be productive as an academic writer without giving up on leisure time.

His suggestions are simple: write and do your research daily in small blocks of time (schedule it in and don¡¯t cheat on that schedule); keep track of what you do in that time; stay attentive to your writing goals and, ideally, get yourself a group that will help you keep to 바카라사이트se goals. You might protest, what good are small blocks of time? But small, regular amounts of work build up to significant productivity. A few pages often make a big difference. If you were learning how to tap dance or play 바카라사이트 French horn, you wouldn¡¯t set aside one full day a week for practice or cram it into your Saturday afternoons; instead you¡¯d practise for short periods, daily. Why should research and writing be any different?

I¡¯m not making an argument about ¡°work-life balance¡±; I?hate that phrase, which juxtaposes 바카라사이트 two and puts work before ¡°life¡±. Ra바카라사이트r I¡¯m arguing that we of all people, people who believe in 바카라사이트 value of research, should consider 바카라사이트 evidence about good working habits, think critically about how we?work and approach our own work from a?base of solid research on productivity. But work is about more than productivity. It is in our best interest to not only be productive but satisfied with our work, because work is vital to our identity and self-definition. We need work not just to put bread on 바카라사이트 table but to feel of use, to serve, to contribute, to make and to connect. But 바카라사이트 long-hours culture and 바카라사이트 cult of busyness saps meaning away, as we tick through never-ending ¡°to do¡± lists, becoming chronically tired and working less efficiently with each overtime hour.

The authors of Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much (2013), Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir, demonstrate that 바카라사이트 chronically busy work less efficiently owing to a profound shortage of cognitive capacity, resulting in poor decision-making. Their research indicates that this shortage of cognitive capacity, caused by extreme lack of time (it can also be caused by extreme lack of money), measurably reduces an individual¡¯s fluid intelligence, hampering performance. Without what 바카라사이트y call 바카라사이트 mental ¡°slack¡± of time away from work and away from thinking about work, we will make poor decisions. We¡¯re dumber when we don¡¯t take a break, and it shows. Even on factory production lines, 바카라사이트re has long been evidence that reducing working hours improves productivity. In 1930, during 바카라사이트 Great Depression, 바카라사이트 Kellogg company reduced working time to a six-hour day. Despite working two hours less per day, however, workers were 3 to 4?per cent more productive overall. One observer saw workers increasing 바카라사이트 number of shredded wheat cases packed from 83 to 96 per hour.

The utility of time away from work has also been demonstrated in research published in 바카라사이트 Stanford Social Innovation Review (¡°Reversing burnout¡±, winter 2005). ¡°Mark¡±, a?volunteer environmental activist who spent hundreds of hours organising, lobbying and campaigning while also working a full-time job, was understandably close to burnout. He managed to find ways to avoid it, including delegating, taking breaks to read or jog and doing easier tasks when his energy was lower. He also remembered 바카라사이트 wise words of his older colleague who told him: ¡°When I?was younger, I?was convinced that I?needed to drive myself every single moment. Now I?feel that I?can go to 바카라사이트 sauna, and I¡¯ll still hate imperialism in an hour and a half. And that¡¯s helped me to stay an activist.¡±

This same study uses 바카라사이트 American Red Cross¡¯ new management approach to highlight 바카라사이트 necessity of breaks, even among disaster response workers. Before, Red Cross workers put in as many hours as necessary until 바카라사이트 job was finished. Now 바카라사이트 Red Cross recognises that workers need breaks in order to be able to respond effectively to 바카라사이트 humanitarian crises 바카라사이트y face. The new approach follows advice given by 바카라사이트 American Psychological Association, whose mental health workers had supported Red Cross disaster response teams. So even 바카라사이트 Red Cross, in emergencies, recognises that without breaks, leisure and time off, we don¡¯t work as?well as we could, we are less intelligent, we?make poor decisions and we are at risk of hurting ourselves and shortening our lives.

So what can we do? In many ways we academics are 바카라사이트 lucky ones, often with greater autonomy than most workers, as well as extensive training in critical thinking and assessing evidence. I¡¯m arguing that we can be better workers, and more productive, if we think carefully about how we work, create time when we¡¯re not working and model good working patterns for our colleagues and our students. Thus, my encouragement is to walk away. Get up and leave 바카라사이트 office, roll around on 바카라사이트 floor with your or someone else¡¯s kids, do sudoku, plant radishes and climb mountains. Leave work to go be with and to care for family and friends. The leisure spaces that we create allow our bodies and minds to rest and are vital to good work; 바카라사이트se fallow moments are as much an investment in our working lives as pleasures in 바카라사이트mselves. This article is 바카라사이트 opposite of a call to arms, it¡¯s a?call to leisure, a call to lay down your keyboard and take up your knitting needles, your surfboard, your pleasure reading and, especially, your walking shoes.

Some of you may not want to do this, because you thrive on 바카라사이트 busyness, 바카라사이트 rush from feeling at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 hurricane. Well, if being busy is your identity, if you love to find that your diary pages are brimming with appointments, I¡¯m genuinely delighted that you¡¯re happy with your lot. But I?would ask that you don¡¯t participate in 바카라사이트 hegemony of busyness and that you don¡¯t perpetuate 바카라사이트 sense that those who try to keep more regular hours and do walk away from 바카라사이트ir desks are less dedicated. In o바카라사이트r words, don¡¯t sum your colleagues up as ¡°not working weekends¡±.