# The Optimal Number of Work Hours **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895 "2010-02-13T21:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895/21 "2010-02-16T17:22:17Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > But more importantly, it means that there is an optimum number of hours that a person is free or at work for the greatest growth of the economy. Yeah, probably. But I follow the school of thought that wants to adjust the economy for maximum human happiness, not adjust human happiness for maximum economic growth. So to me, a better question would be: “What is optimum number of hours for each person’s happiness?” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895/22 "2010-02-16T18:52:51Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Sorry, not denying that there can be white collar injuries. I just don’t think 10-12 hours rather than 8 is going to be the cause of them, rather than offices whoch are poorly laid out for ergonomic purposes. There are a lot of white collar injuries; from [this site](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1024097/Two-thirds-office-staff-suffer-Repetitive-Strain-Injury.html) > [@](#): > > More than two thirds of workers now suffer from repetitive strain injury, costing £300million in lost working hours, a new study has found. This is in the UK, but I have no reason to believe that the statistics would be any different in North America; in fact, they’re probably worse. I would suggest that people working 25% longer each day would result in their injuries happening 25% faster or being 25% more serious. That’s the thing about repetitive strains; you do the same motion for hours every day. Doing the same motion for longer every day puts that much more strain on your body. Ergonomics is certainly part of this discussion, but so is how long people work at the same task. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895/23 "2010-02-17T11:12:00Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Sorry, not denying that there can be white collar injuries. I just don’t think 10-12 hours rather than 8 is going to be the cause of them, rather than offices whoch are poorly laid out for ergonomic purposes. Look at it this way: spending 12 hours in an ergonomically-unsound environment is much worse than spending 8. If I have back pain which develops after 7 hours in a chair that’s inadequate for me and I’m working 8 hour days, then at most I’ll be in pain for 1 hour. If I’m working 12 hour days, that’s 4-5 hours for which I’m useless, plus however long it takes me to recover from the chair. Would it be best if the chair was good for me? Well, yeah. But we’re looking at the “time” variable here, not at “everything which affects productivity and consumption.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895/24 "2010-02-17T14:13:55Z")
A good source on this topic is [_The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure,_](http://www.amazon.com/Overworked-American-Unexpected-Decline-Leisure/dp/B000H2N3DM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266415860&sr=8-1) by Juliet Schor. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895/25 "2010-02-17T14:49:41Z")
6 Am to midnight? When did you sleep? When did you see your family? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-optimal-number-of-work-hours/528895.md?page=1)