Is the traditional working week really working for us? More and more evidence is stacking up to say no.

The arguments in favour of the four-day week or reduced-hour week (working 9am–2pm, for example) tend to focus on the benefits of this way of working. Research has found that a four-day week benefits your physical health, can increase productivity and reduces sick days taken. Four-day week trials showed lower levels of stress and burnout, and workers reported better work-life balance.

But new research looks at the opposite: the negative impact of not reducing our hours and just continuing to plod on with the standard 9-5, five days a week working model.

More proof we need a 4-day working week: we’re less productive and make more mistakes on Friday afternoons