Working less, playing more may be secret to success
Apr 11, 2014, 5:39 PM
This is the story that YOU wanted to hear us talk about! It received 61 percent of the vote in our Radioactive poll!
Let’s all move to Denmark.
No, seriously.
The Nordic country’s population of 5.6 million works a maximum of 37 hours a week, not to mention six weeks of paid vacation and one year’s worth of leave for new parents, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Despite this “lazy” schedule, Danes are anything but. The country “is one of the world’s most productive nations,” and its economy is “one of the most competitive in the world.” Denmark also has a very low unemployment rate and generally succeed at income equality.
Brigid Schulte, a Washington Post staff writer, traveled to Denmark as part of research for her new book “Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time.”
During her time in Denmark, she learned that being busy doesn’t mean you’re more efficient. In some countries, she said, long work hours are “are seen as a sign of inefficiency.” Overworking can also lead to lowering productivity, not to mention causing numerous health problems, both mentally and physically.
Ultimately, Schulte learned that the Danes are onto something: The happier you are, the more successful you are.
