Is it true that the full time is harmful to the brain, especially if you are over 40
Work And Study Health / / December 19, 2019
The team of scientists conducted study, Which was attended by more than 6000 workers over 40 years old. They performed various tasks, such as read and passed tests for memorization. The results showed that the 25-hour working week (work for five hours to three full working days) is optimal for maintaining cognitive function. Besides, if people worked less than 25 hours a week, it is also a negative effect on the brain: it deprived the flexibility of thinking, which often occurs with age.
Colin Mackenzie (Colin McKenzie), an economics professor at Keio University in TokyoWork can stimulate brain activity and cognitive function support workers who are over forty. But at the same time to work more than 25 hours a week is not less harmful than no work at all. Long working hours and the same type of problems can cause fatigue and stress have a negative impact on cognitive ability.
But why was the critical point is the age of 40 years? According to Mackenzie, our agile intelligence (the ability to perceive information) begins to fade after 20 years, and crystallized intelligence (memory and knowledge we have already acquired) - after 30 years.
Thus, 40 years old can be considered a reference point for the extinction of the cognitive functions. Most people at this age show deterioration in the results of tests for memory and flexible thinking.
Overtime harms the brain
The current economic situation makes us work much longer than previous generations. Biologically and emotionally man is not adapted to the fact that after 40 years of work for eight hours five days a week.
Previous studies have shown that workers of all ages, to work hard long hours, suffer from chronic stress, cognitive problems, and mental illness. More in 1996 School of Public Health found that overtime at Boston University negative impact on the mental health of people who work on the assembly line of the automobile plant.
The negative effects of stress on the mind - a fact proved by neurological research. Basically stress affects cognitive functions through hormones, specifically through steroid hormones and Cortisol, a stress hormone, which has a negative impact on short-term memory, concentration and rational thinking.
sleep factor
Sleep also plays an important role in the ability to maintain full-time. Previously, successful people are proud of the fact that little sleep, lack of sleep now equate to smoking.
The US National Sleep Foundation recommends that people older than 26 years to sleep more than seven hours a day. Sleep is important for memory and learning new information.
Experts are working less
Investigation Carl Eriksson (Karl Ericsson), a professor of psychology at Florida, confirmed that the 40-hour working week is not optimal for high performance.
His study is not specialized in the age-related changes, the task was to find out how many hours you need to work a day each week to give all the best to the maximum. The result was that the productive experts are working on 12-35 hours a week, but no more than 3-5 hours a day.
no disaster
Given the retirement age, many people simply do not have the ability to work less than 40 hours a week, but given the size of pensions, continue to work after retirement age. But, as it turned out, many people do not see this as a disaster, and do not feel the decline of cognitive abilities of a full day.
For example, Richard Salisbury (Richard Salisbury), 58-year-old resident of Australia, says McKinsey study bloated. He works on his own and remotely at various companies as an IT manager.
"I found that the experience of me made it easier to manage your time, - says Salisbury. - The idea of working 25 hours a week, no more than a fairy tale. The vast majority of people with whom I work, do not see any appreciable effect on the cognitive abilities of 35 and 40 hours a week. "
Everything depends on the work
In the UK, there is a premium Britain's Healthiest Company awardsWhich is awarded to companies with the most favorable conditions for healthy working. Last year she was awarded the company for the production of sporting goods, pharmaceutical and IT companies. All of them are provided to employees to maintain physical fitness opportunities. For example, flexible working hours in some companies allow employees to leave work earlier than other companies organized sports training during lunch.
So if you have a good job that allows you to lead a healthy life, no matter how many hours you work - 25 or 40.
And what do you think, is it worth to reduce the number of working hours for people older than 40 years?