- 9am to 9pm. 6 days a week. Some tech leaders say this is the future.
Some tech leaders are full of BS.
For a start, the research disagrees.
Stanford found productivity sharply declines after 50 hours a week. After 55 hours, there are no measurable gains at all.
You’re just burning people for nothing.
Sustained overwork leads to burnout, cognitive fatigue and disengagement, the exact opposite of the creativity and focus you actually need to innovate.
Even China’s supreme court declared 996 illegal after workers started dying from it. Literally dying.
And we’re celebrating it. WTF?
Here’s what the research actually shows:
- Creative hobbies outside work improve problem solving.
- Rest reduces cortisol and cognitive fatigue.
- People with hobbies burn out less.
- HBR found hobbies make you a more effective leader.
I draw raccoons every day. Not because I want to Be An Artist. Because it’s the only hour where nobody gets anything from me and my brain gets to rest.
The human brain is not a limitless resource. It needs rest to perform.
With AI doing more of the grunt work, we should be talking about maximising rest, creativity and innovation.
Not treating humans like machines.
Come talk to me about it on LinkedIn
