Workin' 9 to 5... and then a bit more.

It often feels there aren't enough hours in the day for all the work I have to do.

I’m a scientist, a professor, a podcaster, a happiness consultant, and I run a busy residential college at Yale, taking care of 400 students.

I love all these different jobs, but they also keep me busier than I’d like. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat up in bed in the middle of the night to clear my email inbox, or waited in line for coffee while logging in to catch up on some work.

I’d frankly be scared to add up the number of hours I devote to work each week. I also know that a lot of this work is inhibiting my happiness. My packed schedule often doesn’t leave me the spare time needed to do all things that have been scientifically proven to boost our wellbeing.

I can’t devote as much as time as I’d like to just talking to people. I sometimes drop my morning mediation and exercise because I had to schedule an early meeting. And work often eats at my sleep — something that’s more essential for happiness than we often remember.

I know taking on too much work is my Achilles’ heel. That’s why I pounce on any research that challenges the hustle culture mindset that drives so many of my — and my students’— career decisions.

So I was very intrigued when I read that the authorities in Iceland decided to try out a four-day work week. People employed in preschools, hospitals, government offices, even police stations were paid the same, but had their hours cut.

What happened? Well, the good news for employers was that productivity didn’t suffer — in fact, it even improved. The workers wound up doing smart things, like changing their shift patterns and cutting down on long, boring meetings (which frankly often end with no actual decisions having been made anyway).

But the biggest positive impact was seen in the happiness of the workers. They reported feeling more energised and less stressed. They had more time for exercise, rewarding hobbies and meeting friends — all the happiness-inducing practices you’ll hear about in this newsletter.

The workers also told the researchers that their home lives were happier and more harmonious since the cut to their working hours. They could spend quality time with children and grandchildren – and still fit in the chores and errands that had dominated their free time before the experiment.

The scheme was such a success that an estimated 86% of Iceland’s working population have now won the right to reduce their hours.

Employers in lots of countries are rethinking the length of the working week, but I think it could be some time before such radical ideas take hold more widely. Many companies still (mistakenly) fear that reducing hours will hit their profits. And many workers simply don’t have the luxury of reducing their hours if they want to cover their living expenses. Some of us don’t even do it for the money… we work long hours out of habit or because we think that it impresses our bosses and colleagues.

But there are some simple habits that all of us can do to win back time in our day.

- Take your breaks. Coffee breaks and lunch breaks should be just that… times of rest when you stop work. They’re also great opportunities to socialise and exercise. So, if you can, resist the urge to eat a sandwich alone while checking your email at your workstation. Take a walk, or chat with a co-worker so that you’ll feel like you had a real mental break.

- Go on vacation. Americans look with envy at workers elsewhere who get four or five weeks paid vacation per year… but it’s odd then that so many of us don’t even use all the annual vacation time we do have. Some surveys suggest that three quarters of US employees with paid vacation don’t take every day off owed to them. So take your vacation time! Even a holiday at home can help you feel like you have a bit more time affluence.

- When you’re off the clock, stop work. Even people who take their vacation time don’t actually clock off. We spend our weekends taking calls, answering emails, even joining Zoom meetings. The technology that’s revolutionised work has also changed our free time. So if you can, log out of your work email when you come home. Hang up your work clothes and even put your laptop out of sight so you’re not tempted to hop on email if you don’t need to.

I too struggle with the urge to do more all the time, but doing so can lead to a crushing and joyless feeling of being time famished – the sensation of not having a single second free in your schedule. It’s is a subject I’ll definitely return to repeatedly in these newsletter… but as a little time gift to myself and you, I’ll bring this article to an end.

Stay happy,

Laurie