I've spent this week working really hard. Reports, invoices, meetings: I've been there, got the free biscuits. However, I've begun to notice that while I and my fellow minions cart ourselves around doing all the work, the boss has been staying behind to "sign off" our activities. As far as I can tell, this entails thumbing idly through a wodge of paper before planting a large signature at the end. Really, how hard can it be? The fountain-pen-flourish seems to be the most taxing part of the exercise.
So I was heartened to see that over on Gene Expression, Razib Khan has been considering whether or not high earners actually work harder than their lower-paid teams. It turns out there is a modest association between higher incomes and longer hours - but that this might be the result of bosses overestimating their hours (lunch takes them much longer than the rest of us). The discussion goes off topic once posters start considering which nation takes the least productive lunch break, but I did find this interesting nugget: you're paid not for the work you do, but as a bribe to not hurt the company as much as you could do with the responsibility you have. Definitely one to consider.
Of course, according to a report in The Telegraph, men would actually pay their employer to go to work - just to get away from their children. OK, so I'm exaggerating. But it's certainly true that 62% of fathers surveyed said the office provides them with a welcome break from their offspring, and even more (70%) are delighted that a disproportionate amount of the nappy-changing, wiping down and interminable cooing is done by mothers. A quarter of respondents even admitted to doing longer hours than necessary in order to spend less time with the fruit of their loins.
One of the Immutable Laws of Work is that, nine times out of 10, the incompetent are rewarded and the diligent punished. I mention this just in passing, and if it should colour your opinion of this story from Dallas, I won't be held responsible. I know, I know, people who have just been made redundant deserve a break. But for some reason it's only ever bankers who get the breaks. I would ask why that was, but I think the ILW answers that one.
Lastly, don't be surprised if your office starts to look like the aliens have landed - and not just because everyone is huddling under blankets and fighting over the thermostat. Research carried out by the University of Surrey has found that changing traditional white lighting to a blue-enriched source helped office workers stay more alert and less sleepy during the day. Obviously, this is good news, but what struck me was the marvellous understatement of Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, who commented thus: "This research may indeed imply that our currently used artificial office lighting is suboptimal for maintaining alertness." Truly, whodathunk it?
