Working Overtime Is Pretty Pointless, Says Study

How many hours do you work in a week? If you’re working full time, chances are you put in at least 40 hours of work a week. But if you’re holding more than one job or are constantly putting on extra hours, chances are you spend way more than that weekly. But is working overtime really benefiting you and your employer? According to research, not really.

Whether you’re an employee or a self-employed entrepreneur, you can easily fall prey to working irregular hours. While you may think doing so helps your work get easier or your business grows bigger, it may not exactly be the case.

According to researchers, working for more than 50 hours a week can be a waste of time.

A Standford study found that when people worked more than 50 hours, output per hour started to fall. The researchers concluded that working over 50 hours a week isn’t ideal.

It seems that work was done during days with overtime basically just equals work that is done during regular work hours.

Research from the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) says:

“Productivity drops immediately upon starting overtime and continues to drop until, at approximately eight 60-hour weeks, the total work done is the same as what would have been done in eight 40-hour weeks.”

Not working overtime may be a big challenge to entrepreneurs, as well as employees in highly competitive workplaces.

But as the modern work philosophy goes, you need to work smart and not just work hard. Studies have found that taking breaks in between work can actually help keep the brain fresh and productivity high. Experts recommend working for one to two hours and then taking a 20- to 30-minute break. Of course, it also helps to create a workspace that’s conducive to working and has a very minimal distraction.

Do you work overtime a lot? What do you think of these studies?