Why you shouldn't work too hard

The rational or decision making part of our brains is a lot frailer that we think.

It is a little like a leaking hydraulic braking system that loses hydraulic fluid each time the brake is used.

It has about a two-hour capacity in a whole day.  

You may wonder how we can work all day then? A lot of what you do has become automated. When you do something unfamiliar, you need to concentrate. After several repetitions, it feels easier. We bring our decision-making part of the brain into play when we are working with something new and unfamiliar that needs an answer we do not already have available.     

Some days you will feel the burden of overuse of this part of the brain, even feeling 'blank' at times.  

This is when that limited capacity of the prefrontal cortex has been reached and the best way to rejuvenate it is sleep.  

However, a break and physical movements may help slightly in the interim. 

The challenge is when we work consistently for long hours. No matter how many breaks you have or how you try and manage the use of your resources, the fact is simply that you run out if thinking ability.  

They have tested this and found that tiredness has the same effect on mental ability as consuming too much alcohol.  

Impaired motor skills and poor judgment are just some of the effects. The danger of this is starting to be recognised with life threatening jobs like airline pilots, machine operators, doctors and many more.  

When they have reached a certain number of hours on the job it is illegal for them to continue. They are sent home.  

And just because your job may not threaten the lives of others, there is an optimum time span where you can deliver good work.

Forty hours a week is currently considered as optimum.  

Lots of overtime may be a vicious circle as you may have to fix problems created when the brain was “drunk on work”. 

*Mariane Vorster is a life and business coach. Her passion and focus is on providing strategic leadership development, concentrating on the transfer of skills and knowledge. Click here to get in touch with Mariane.