About
Dr. James Hewitt

In short, the answer is ‘yes’. For example, when researchers constructed a hypothetical portfolio equally weighted across the top 100 firms in the “Highest Wellbeing Places to Work” list, it outperformed the S&P 500 by 20 percentage points.²

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While this selflessness is laudable, I’d argue the answer is ‘no.’ As we’re reminded every time we board a plane, we must put on our oxygen masks BEFORE assisting others in the event of an emergency. The same is true for leaders’ wellbeing. What's more, a survey polling 32k respondents in 28 countries revealed that 8 in 10 people expect their company’s chief executive to set an example of healthy behavior.³

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Without hesitation, prioritize adequate, quality sleep. In practice, this means making your sleep and wake time as consistent as possible and trying to get at least seven hours of sleep. While individual sleep needs vary to some degree, the evidence is clear that, for the vast majority of people, sleeping 6 hours per night for two weeks leads to impairments in cognitive performance equivalent to going two nights without sleep.⁴ 

Perhaps worse, evidence suggests we often don’t even notice this effect, as our perception of sleepiness and impairment is generally poor.

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You are not. Unfortunately, the average attention span is declining at an alarming rate. For instance, when Professor Gloria Mark began researching attention spans in 2003, she observed that people focused on a computer screen for an average of two and a half minutes before switching. In her most recent research, she reports that time has reduced to just 47 seconds.⁵ 

The good news is that we can do something about it. Some research suggests that $468 billion could be gained each year by optimizing knowledge workers’ time with dedicated focus periods.⁶

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At this point, we don’t know for sure, but there are signs. For example, unlike previous technological shifts, the changes associated with GenAI tools may lead to a radically different future. For example, it’s estimated that steam power improved productivity by 25% for a small factory in the mid-1800s.⁷ In contrast, leveraging AI tools could improve employees’ productivity by 66%⁸ and reduce stress by cutting down digital debt.⁹ 

It’s also worth noting that while 49% of people worry that AI will replace their jobs, 70% would still like to delegate as much work as possible to reduce their workload.¹⁰

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I would argue that the answer is “yes”. Some research indicates that the number of overlapping meetings has risen by 46%.¹¹ This means more back-to-back meetings and fewer breaks. However, brain imaging studies demonstrate that not taking a break reduces performance in meetings and increases stress, while taking a break improves engagement and reduces stress.¹² In short, your brain needs a break. 

An analysis of 22 micro-break studies suggests that a micro-break should be at least 10 minutes long.¹³ The time spent taking a break will be more than offset by the boost in productivity following it, not to mention the positive effect on wellbeing.

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