What’s the deal with working 6 hours a day? If you’ve ever done an eight-hour shift, you’ve felt it: getting up to head to work before the sun is even up, and getting home after dark. As the hours go by, you can feel your focus slipping away.

You spend so much time at work that you can’t find a moment for chores at home. Let alone enjoying time with family or friends. Is working 6 hours the secret to happiness? Are we spending too much time at work?

Working 6 hours a day: the Swedish experiment

In Gothenburg, Sweden, an experiment was carried out in which workers went from an eight-hour workday to six hours a day with no pay cut. You can read more about the study here.

The experiment ran for eight months and, according to multiple outlets and the participants themselves, it was a real success. One of the employees at the centre where the study took place told the British newspaper The Guardian, “I was getting really tired and when I got home all I could think about was collapsing on the sofa.”

The result of the experiment was more productivity and less stress.

 

Entrepreneur = lots of working hours

If you’re an entrepreneur, we know your workday is probably even longer than the legal eight hours. Twelve, fourteen hours, whatever it takes to keep clients happy, right? When you launch a new project, the first few months come with a long list of worries and tasks to take on. But it’s worth remembering that it’s not all work.

Keep in mind that working more hours doesn’t mean you’ll get more done. So, dear entrepreneur, here are some questions for you to chew on.

• Is the quality of your service the same when you work more? Ask yourself if, past those eight hours, you’re still performing the same way. If you feel more tired and get distracted more easily, maybe you need a break or to consider shorter workdays. Quality matters more than quantity.

• Can you balance your social and work life? Monday to Friday, your mind is locked on work. When you get home, do you actually unwind or is your head still at the office? Mental health matters — take time to rest, switch off, and enjoy family or friends.

• Have you done the maths on profitability? Run the numbers. Calculate your extra working hours and the actual financial gain they bring you — maybe it’s not much, or maybe nothing at all. Ask yourself if it’s really worth it.

• Are you producing more by working more? You’re at the office as long as it takes, but have you actually checked whether your output has gone up? Pay attention to this, because you might think it has, but when you sit down and look closely, you may realise your output is the same whether you work eight or fourteen hours.

• Do you feel more energetic or more tired? You need to track everything, and so does your body. Watch out for the signals — stress, mood swings, drowsiness — anything that tells you it’s time to ease off the pace.

• Is your work environment the right one for you? You’re just getting started and you’ve probably set up your office at home, but that has its pros and cons. Make sure that work environment really is the best one for you. Maybe having an office or coworking space flips a switch and boosts your productivity.

What’s the best workday?

This is the big question every country and every worker keeps asking. We don’t know if it’s the best answer, but our advice is to go for flexibility — without necessarily clocking just 6 hours a day, if you don’t think it’s right for you.

Don’t stay glued to your desk for hours just to look engaged. You’re really only working at half-speed — which is exactly why the 6-hour workday makes sense. Set small goals for your different tasks and build a work schedule that helps you balance your professional and personal life.

What matters is enjoying the work you do — being able to work on something you love is a real privilege. Tell us which workday suits you best?