Free exchange | Working hours

Get a life

If you're more productive, you get to work less

By C.W. and A.J.K.D. | LONDON

BERTRAND RUSSELL, the British philosopher, was not a fan of work. In his 1932 essay, “In Praise of Idleness”, he reckoned that if society were better managed the average person would only need to work four hours a day. Such a small working day would “entitle a man to the necessities and elementary comforts of life.” The rest of the day could be devoted to the pursuit of science, painting and writing.

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