Those who clock up 55-hour working weeks are 33% more likely to suffer a stroke than those who maintain a 35 to 40-hour working week, according to research from University College London (UCL).

With this in mind, Sweden seems to be slowly moving towards a standard six-hour working day, with some businesses across the country having already implemented the change, reports fastcoexist.com.

Linus Feldt, CEO of Stockholm-based app developer Filimundus, commented: "I think the eight-hour work day is not as effective as one would think. To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the work day more endurable. At the same time, we are having it hard to manage our private life outside of work.” 

Filimundus switched to a six-hour day last year, and Mr Feldt says their staff have not looked back: "We want to spend more time with our families, we want to learn new things or exercise more. I wanted to see if there could be a way to mix these things.”

To cope with the significant cut in working hours, Mr Feldt says staff were asked to stay off social media and avoid other distractions while at work. Meetings are also kept to a minimum.

"My impression now is that it is easier to focus more intensely on the work that needs to be done and you have the stamina to do it and still have energy left when leaving the office,” he added.

The thinking behind the move is that because the working day has been condensed, staff will be more motivated and have more energy to get more done in a shorter period of time. Mr Feldt reports that not only has productivity stayed the same, there are fewer staff conflicts because people are happier and better rested.

Other companies have reported similar success. Several Toyota service centres in Gothenburg, which switched to a six-hour day 13 years ago, report happier staff, a lower turnover rate, and greater ease in attracting new staff.

In February 2015, a retirement home in Gothenburg implemented a six-hour work day for their nurses with no changes to wage. They will be running the experiment until the end of 2016 to figure out if the high cost of hiring 14 new staff members to cover the lost hours is worth the improvements to patient care and employee morale. 

Admittedly, impressions of staff being happier and full of energy are not exactly a scientific basis for declaring six-hour work days as “better” than the 8.7-hour working day endured by the average American. However, there is evidence that current practices are not working.

The UCL study analysed data from 25 studies that monitored the health of over 600,000 people from the US, Europe, and Australia for up to 8.5 years. It found that people who worked 55 hours a week had a 33% greater risk of having a stroke than people who worked a 35 - 40 hour week. There was also an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. A separate study found that working 49-hour weeks was associated with poorer mental health, particularly in women.