In defense of down time

Science reports on the importance of time off, solitude and vacation from work..


Mind Matters: In Defense of DowntimeBy Irene S. Levine

December 04, 2009

"Having an office full of workaholics is like having a yard full of moles." --Eric Darr
When I was first employed by a government research organization some years ago, my supervisor, although bright, kind, and productive, was so committed that she regularly labored into the wee hours of the morning and on weekends. She rarely took vacations. No one who worked with her could keep up with the pace, certainly not me.

Typically, I would leave work at about 6 or 7 each evening after crossing off most of the items on my to-do list. Invariably, when I returned the next morning before 8, my in box was overflowing.

Lacking control over my workload, I felt stressed. My productivity suffered, as did my morale. Other employees became so dispirited and worn out that they left. (These were days when jobs were abundant.)

Nonstop work--without sufficient downtime for family, friends, and solitude--violates the natural rhythms of life and nature. My supervisor was a perfectionist: obsessive, competitive, extremely mission-driven, and excessively failure-aversive. These traits made it difficult for her to set healthy boundaries between work and the rest of her life. And those traits affected not just her life but also the lives of all the members of the team.

Smart phones, laptops, and ubiquitous Internet connections have compounded these tendencies in driven people, enabling them to work nonstop and to drive their subordinates to do the same. The depressed economy has made things worse still, leading many workers--the ones lucky enough to still have jobs--feeling vulnerable to job loss and pressured to work harder.

A lot of people assume that the key to productivity is hard work, and of course hard work is essential. But there are limits to how much work is useful. Research suggests that working harder and longer doesn't necessarily mean getting more done.

Lessons learned about time off
A 4-year study by professor Leslie Perlow and research associate Jessica Porter, both of the Harvard Business School, published in the October issue of Harvard Business Review, demonstrates that time off can have a larger, positive effect on individual and organizational productivity than more hours on the job. They looked at the effects of something they called "predictable time off" on employees of the Boston Consulting Group, an international consulting firm comprised of consultants, bankers, accountants, lawyers, and IT professionals. During designated periods, even some periods of high work demand, employees were required to take time off. In a first experiment, employees had to take at least one day off in the middle of the workweek; they weren't given a choice, regardless of the pressures of their jobs. In a second, less extreme experiment, employees weren't allowed to work past 6 p.m. on one night each week, and they were not allowed to check e-mail or voice mail on those evenings. These "predictable time off" arrangements were in addition to any time off that occurred because of periods of light workloads, vacations, and personal leave.

Initially, the consultants and their supervisors were anxious and resisted the changes. But the results of the study were overwhelmingly positive: greater job satisfaction, improved communication, greater trust and respect for colleagues, increased learning and self-development, better products for the firm's clients, and a better work/life balance.