Take It Easy

Working less will make you happier and more productive, says author Bruce Daisley.

Should we enjoy work?

“We know that when people enjoy their jobs, they do a better job. A lot of us have developed this expectation that somehow we can eliminate unproductive activity. The consequence is that we’ve gradually eliminated a lot of the human parts of people’s jobs and made work less and less enjoyable.”

What’s one way to make a workday pleasant?

“Taking a lunch break is incredibly effective. It improves our sleep and our happiness levels. In fact, taking a break seems to improve people’s productivity in the afternoon. People who take lunch breaks with co-workers have observed that some of their best ideas have come from those casual chats. We’ve made the mistake of thinking that lunch breaks are unproductive, and we’ve eliminated that human connection.”

So, we should work less?

“People with long working weeks tend to have less imaginative ideas. They tend to be very predictable in their thinking patterns. All of us are looking for inventive ways to solve problems. A long working week is the quickest way to eliminate that inventiveness.”

Why is it important to take days off?

“We tell ourselves that working more leads to more productivity, but the evidence seems to say the opposite. Americans typically take two weeks’ vacation and a big holiday. Look at productivity around the world. The French and the Swedes take more vacation days, and their productivity is almost the same. Elite performance is a combination of work plus rest. We get the balance wrong.”