We work less, so why do we still work more?

Wasted time is proof of the need for changes to modern labor

The 40-hour work week should have died by now. Every diligent employee who reflects on how they spend their time knows the truth behind that. Whether you work in a cubicle or work construction all of our time could be managed with greater flexibility.

At the top of Hacker News earlier this morning was a link to The Psychological Importance of Wasting Time. The top comment stuck out to me for encapsulating some of the changes modern work environments should undergo, especially where flexibility is concerned (emphasis mine):

…I found that you will naturally fall into wasting time during work to relax if you ignore it at the expense of said work.

Granted, this time doesn’t offer much benefit in the course of the working day, personally I’d find if I started work early, that sometimes the meat of my day really wouldn’t be productive until later, even though I had been at work for several hours before productivity really took off.

When I had my second son and my wife stayed home for three months, I found myself spending most mornings going to the park with my children and wife and just enjoying the first part of my day with them. Each day I did this I came into work in the afternoon with a lot more energy and focus and finished the same amount of work, or more, plus I was able to enjoy my family and felt more fulfilled overall.

If I had started my day rolling groggily into the shop with coffee in hand and heroically pounding away, it would have taken me those same hours just to wind up into productivity, and my day would feel more tiring and unfulfilling in the end…

“Being at work” should become less about physical presence and more about a state of mind. Even when we’re together at the office, we’re all “at work” on our own schedule.