I’m sure I don’t need to convince you that a four-day workweek is a great idea. In fact, studies have shown that the four-day workweek can actually increase productivity.

Before you get too amped though, we South Africans aren’t getting an endless supply of long weekends any time soon.

Instead, many of us work far longer hours than we’re supposed to, which can impact our mental, physical and relational health outcomes.

Yes, the reason you’re sitting alone on your couch, eating ice-cream out of the tub, is that you’re working too hard.

Here’s CNN:

“We’re talking people who do 50, 60, 70, 80 hours per week,” said Azizi Seixas, an assistant professor at NYU Langone Health, who focuses on sleep and stress research.

“Generally, that’s associated with a host of mental and psychological health issues as well as physical health issues and the third one, which we don’t really hear a lot about, relational health issues,” he said.

Relational issues are those that arise in your interpersonal relationships. This, along with all of the other areas mentioned above, can play a role in how long you live.

In other words, you can actually work yourself to death.

To avoid that less-than-convenient outcome, let’s take a look at the four ways that working fewer hours each week could help boost your longevity.

This is all to be kept up your sleeve when pushing for the four-day workweek.

1. De-stress

That sounds easier said than done. Still, longer work weeks increase stress, which in turn increases the risk for psychosocial stress responses and depressive symptoms.

“A 1.66-fold risk of depressive symptoms and a 1.74-fold risk of anxiety symptoms among employees working more than 55 hours a week, compared with employees working 35 to 40 hours a week, has been observed,” [Researcher Christian Benedict] said of the study, in which he was not involved.

Look at it this way, if you’re working all the time, then you don’t have the time to deal with your worries and anxieties. Therefore when you get off work and try to sleep, all of it comes rushing in at once.

I’d recommend getting ‘pantsdrunk’ to de-stress, but that’s just me. 

Which brings us to number two:

2. Get More Sleep

When you sleep your brain clears out the metabolic waste products that accumulate when you’re awake.

“Studies have also shown that newly learned information is consolidated during sleep, especially those relevant for future behavior,” he said. “There is also evidence to suggest that sleep promotes processes involved in creativity and problem-solving. Finally, during sleep, parts of the brain recover that are involved in decision-making, stress resilience, learning, planning, vigilance and impulse control.”

Basically, you need sleep to function at 100%. Not getting enough sleep can affect everything from organ function to concentration.

Moreover – and this is the big one – if you don’t sleep you will die.

A longitudinal study of 10,308 British civil servants, published in the journal Sleep in 2007, found that those who reduced their sleep from seven to five hours or fewer a night were almost twice as likely to die from all causes, especially cardiovascular disease. The study also showed an increase in sleep duration, to more than 8 hours, was associated with an increase in mortality.

Also, get yourself a decent mattress. You’re an adult now.

Speaking of cardiovascular disease, here’s number three…

3. Improve Your Heart Health

Lack of sleep means poor heart health. Actually, a lack of sleep results in bad health overall.

“We need about seven to eight hours per day in order to get optimal health benefits, give or take depending on the individual,” he said. “But if you’re not getting that, that can lead to an increased risk for obesity as well as increased risk for diabetes, particularly Type 2 diabetes, and an increased risk for hypertension.”

So eat right and don’t forget to hydrate, because work weeks that averaged 60 hours or more over three decades triple your risk of getting the aforementioned chronic diseases.

Finally, spend time with the people you actually care about.

4. Spend Time With Loved Ones 

Disclaimer – spend time with loved ones only if doing so isn’t really stressful. If it is, then don’t do that, do something else. Go to a movie, take a stroll, whatever it takes for you to unwind.

Overall, when you work less, “you have more time for your family and time to engage in health-promoting leisure activities, exercise, meeting friends and so forth,” Benedict said.

Engaging with loved ones can help battle loneliness, which has been found to be somewhat detrimental for longevity.

In other words, loneliness can kill you, so you should make an effort to spend less time with your laptop and more time with the people that you care about.

The downside to working less is that stress could potentially increase when trying to fit more work into fewer hours. But don’t tell your boss that, because we’re all angling for the four-day week.

Best practice is to work smarter, not longer. That way you’ll get more done in less time, giving you the space you need to take a breather.

A three-day weekend always helps, too.

[source:cnn]