All nighters.

Not enough hours in the day. Need less sleep and more hours. Are 60 hour weeks the norm? Are all nighters de rigueur? The eight hour day, so long a mainstay of the business world has long disappeared, courtesy of the Internet and technology that follows and interrupts us at every opportunity. Yet we believe if we had even more hours, we'd be even more productive. The correlation of more hours equals more work is as plain as the report you finished last night at 2am, with all the corrections you've had to make prior to presenting it a the next meeting. Seems more hours make you less productive and research in Europe and the US seems to agree.

The ILO (International Labour Organisation) and the EFILWC (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), after extensive research, agree longer hours don't make you more productive and along with HBS (Harvard Business School) data, agree the 50+ hours you work should be more like 30 indicating you would still be productive. Taking a break, not just a Kitkat or a quick trip to the toilet but real breaks to relax and recharge, is their antidote to staying productive. A study in the journal of Cognition makes the parallel between frequent breaks and downtime to heightened productivity and worker focus. Seems the Europeans are working on flexible hours and less hours being the way for more productivity and happiness. The research indicates 30 hours is the bench mark for getting the most out of your people, while still giving them a high quality of life outside work.

No wonder Europe is in the state it's in, how do they get anything done? We didn't get to be the "lucky country" without putting in the hours and the more the better as far as business is concerned. How can you pull that million dollar bonus if you aren't working 80 hours a week, not seeing you kids, onto your third wife of husband, 20 kilos over weight, have no friends and are not acquainted with the words holiday and sunshine? That's real work, like our forefathers in the mines, like the pioneering spirit that built this country with no weekends, just a Sunday roast and then back to work. And all that discourse about being happy is just radical hippy talk designed to bring down the establishment.

Seems we have a way to go before the business establishment comes to its senses and acknowledges the correlation between hours and productivity and happiness is askew and better ways can be found for both to live under the same roof. Some are working towards that horizon with a good example, the current list of best places to work in Australia, showing successful companies that are fun places work at. After extensive research it comes as no surprise that 5 out of the top 10 companies are IT related, giving credence to evidence, technology can be used to enhance both productivity and happiness. After all, happiness is an up to date iPad, making everyone productive, without the 60 hour week. 30 hour weeks may not be on the agenda but there are no reasons we can't get better at what we do, without pulling those all nighters.