A lot was made in the news recently about the new six hour workday that many CEOs are implementing in Sweden. So many of us struggle to get everything done in eight; how the heck could lopping off two hours increase productivity?
According to Linus Feldt, the CEO of Filimundus, a Swedish app developer, the eight hour workday is broken. “I think the eight-hour workday is not as effective as one would think,” says Feldt. “To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. … In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the workday more endurable. At the same time, we are finding it hard to manage our private life outside of work. We want to spend more time with our families, we want to learn new things or exercise more. I wanted to see if there could be a way to mix these things.”
Feldt says that his employees are able to focus more intently and avoid pesky distractions like social media.
Author Daniel J. Levitin concurs with Feldt and other Swedish CEO’s implementing a six hour work week. “Studies have found that productivity goes up when the number of hours per week of work goes down,” he writes in The Organized Mind, one of our two featured summaries this week, both of which touch on themes of productivity. The summary also looks at the impact work time, sleep time and vacation time has on productivity. In I Know How She Does It, author Laura Vanderkam advocates being conscious about how you use your time. “Taking a clear look at work hours, and how much we can or want to work, is the first step to building a life that’s truly balanced, and moving forward on all fronts,” she writes. Vanderkam suggests keeping a log of how you spend your time (more on that in the summary).
Both of these summaries have great takeaways for you to implement in your work and personal life, especially if your boss isn’t keen on implementing a six hour workday just yet.
