Why Cutting Your Hours Could Boost Your Business

Do you feel chained to your business? Well, join the crowd. It's a proven fact that Americans take fewer vacations than people in any other industrialized country. For the small-business owners out there pursuing the American dream, that's an even greater reality. You're everything to your business. You can't afford to take off. Or can you?

According to a Fast Company article by David Roberts, you should. Because, as Roberts asserts, if you don't you could hurt your business in the long run. To prove his point, Roberts points to studies that show a strong link between fewer hours and greater productivity.

Just consider this:
•France creates more GDP per work hour than the United States ($37 versus $34, as of 2003), even with a 35-hour workweek. Norway has an even higher productivity rate ($39 per hour)—and Norwegians work 26 percent fewer hours per year than Americans.

"It's a myth of modern hypercapitalism that an overworked, sleep-deprived, stressed-out workforce is a necessity," Roberts writes. Hmm ... something to think about?