Greetings again my dear friends I hope you are all well, everything we do every day has a negative or positive impact on our physical and mental health, being one of these activities, our work, which can be very varied, and at the same time multiple, therefore, always in our mind bounces the interesting question, which makes us reflect, and it is the following, do we live for work or work to live?

Each person will respond in their own style and experience, perhaps most of us go for the second option, but, without realizing it, we fall into answering the first question with our actions, and we live for work, dedicating the most hours of the day to our working days, and in some way or another, we see our physical and mental health damaged, because we move away from those activities that regulate our stress or our anxiety.

Everything described above, has represented a research challenge at the level of science, in order to verify the existence of benefits to control the amount of hours devoted to our work activity, of course, not everyone agrees with the benefit-reduction relationship of working hours, especially business owners or related, however, many investigations claim that, beyond the benefits to the individual, also generate improvements in business productivity.

The reduction to 6 hours of work per day, according to studies, is favorable to the worker because he perceives his work environment as healthier, affecting his decrease of factors such as stress, and this leads to better interpersonal relationships within the work areas of the company, for example, in those professions related to human health care, working less than 8 hours leads to a better treatment of patients, and that is of great value for a sick person.

We know that every country is built with the joint work of its inhabitants, and what they have tried to show is to avoid overwork in people, because in the long run everyone benefits both the company and its workers, if we do not work we do not generate income to meet the needs of our family, and live for work, can not give the opportunity to provide economic welfare, at least from the basic point of view, but we leave aside things of vital importance as sharing with family, among many other activities that are done in family unity.

Other benefits of reduced working hours highlighted by several studies, is the fact that workers get sick less, and thus miss less work, and absences cost companies money, for example, many of these studies have revealed that one of the most influential factors to unjustified absenteeism turns out to be work stress, something that is reduced with fewer working hours.

The reduction to 6 working hours also helps the supply of more jobs, more people will be able to apply for a job, and allows workers to have more time to invest in other important activities such as their training in terms of academic improvement or other training, to have a longer period of time to work for a living, and to dedicate time to what is most valuable for the human being, his family.

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Conclusion

Many are the mutual benefits that can be obtained in the reduction of working hours, this determined by numerous investigations, especially at a psychological level, however, beyond this, the particular economy of the countries greatly influences the working hours of people, that is, they can have a job of 6 working hours, however, the key is the real possibility of being able to cover their basic needs with this job.

We live immersed in a world of great consumption and great demands at social level, where we have to multiply to do various activities, everything will depend on our planning, and our personal finances, in many countries its inhabitants are in the need to engage in several jobs, and spend more than 8 working hours, so these 8 hours are considered as a reason for generating stress and other adverse effect on our physical and mental health, which will be for those who spend up to 12 hours of work a day, and even more than these 12 hours.

It is always important to stop and reflect on any aspect that influences our overall health, as is the case of our work, which consumes part of the life we lead, and without realizing it, also part of the life of each of the people around us, we have to know how to balance our activities in relation to the particular reality of each person, and really be able to say that we are working to live, and what do you think?

Until another opportunity my dear friends.

Recommended bibliographic reference

[1] SHORTER WORKING WEEK AND WORKERS’ WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH.Link.

[2] A rapid review of mental and physical health effects of working at home: how do we optimise health? .Link.

[3] Working Long Hours .Link.