Labor Day’s over, and Americans fortunate enough to have jobs are getting back to work. But all work and no play might make us, well, less productive. That’s the finding of a study that looked at the effects of an employee exercise program in which workers worked out during office hours.
Researchers evaluated employees at a large Swiss public dental health organization. Of the 177 participants, one group exercised two and a half hours during the work week; a second group had the same amount of hours off but didn’t exercise; and a control group worked straight through the week.
The participants were asked to measure their own productivity and sickness absenteeism after six months and then after 12 months. Those who exercised regularly said they felt more productive and were able to accomplish more during their time working. Perhaps more significantly, they said they lost less time to sick days than those in the other two groups. The study was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. [Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz and Henna Hasson, "Employee Self-rated Productivity and Objective Organizational Production Levels: Effects of Worksite Health Interventions Involving Reduced Work Hours and Physical Exercise"]
The researchers say the results suggest that, to increase productivity, employers take time out from work—if they spend it working out.
—Cynthia Graber
比起那些在上班时间消磨时间或者正经工作的人,在同时间段进行锻炼的人显示出了更强的创造力——辛西娅·格雷伯说。
劳动节结束后,美国人很庆幸他们仍然保有能供自己回去工作的职位。然而,只工作,不放松,会使我们...怎么说呢...创造力低下。一项研究职员工作成效的研究揭示了这一点。
研究人员评估了一个瑞士的大型公共牙科保健机构的177名雇员,他们将人们分成几组:其中一组每周锻炼两个半小时;第二组的休息时间与第一组大体相当,但没有参加锻炼;第三组,作为对照组,整周工作不休息。在半年和一整年以后,工作人员要求受试者评估自己的创造力和因病缺勤次数。参加锻炼的那组人表示,自己的创造力更强了,并且能在工作时段内完成更繁重的任务。更能证明该项研究结论的是,比起另两组的人来,第一组人觉得自己花在生病上的时间更少了。
这项研究结果被发表在《职业和环境医学杂志》上。
这项研究的负责人辛西娅·格雷伯说,该结果意味着——如果人们想提升自己的创造力,他们最好在业余锻炼上花更多的时间。