Here’s How Many Hours You Should Work More Each Week, According to Science

According to a study conducted by Australian researchers, working full-time after a certain age can have very serious consequences for our cognitive abilities…

Work is healthy .. But to what extent? While our professional lives gain a little more status each day in our spare time, many of us also wonder about the importance of full-time jobs that occupy us 40, 50, or sometimes even 60 hours a week.

However, according to study An Australian study was published in 2016 by researchers from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social ResearchIt seems that If you are over 40, work more than 25 hours per week It can harm your mind and thus affect your mind.

Full time work harmful to our brain?

To arrive at this slightly troubling conclusion regarding the way our societies operate, the team implemented Reading, graph and memory tests of more than 6000 workers over the age of 40to find out how the number of hours worked per week can affect the cognitive abilities of individuals.

Why 40 years? As Colin McKenzie, Professor of Economics at Keio University in Tokyo and lead author of this work explains, “sharp intelligence”،, which is the way we process information, begins to decline around age 20, and Crystallized intelligence, or the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience, begins to decline after the age of thirty. By age 40, most people do worse on tests of memory, pattern recognition, and mental agility exercises.

At the end of this experiment, the researchers concluded that very long working hours can, without much surprise, Leads to exhaustion and physical and/or psychological stresswhich can impair cognitive performance.

How much time do you have to work each week?

In the study, McKenzie and his flock mentioned that She works 25 hours a week (part-time or three days a week) is the optimal amount of time we spend at work each week so that it does not affect cognitive performance. On the contrary, working less than 25 hours a week will do it Damages the agility of the brainfor both men and women.

“Work can stimulate brain activity and may help preserve cognitive function in older working people.”confirms McKenzie, citing BBC. “But at the same time, long working hours can cause fatigue and physical and/or psychological stress, which can compromise cognitive performance.”

“Work can be a double-edged sword, as it can stimulate brain activity, but at the same time, long working hours and certain types of tasks can cause fatigue and stress that can harm cognition.”

In short, it’s all about balance in order to maintain your mental health and not end up feeling overwhelmed. But starting at age 40, slowing down a bit, if possible, seems to be the best thing to do.