Why we need new working hours

Starting later is good for you

Last Friday, Frederique van der Wal was at our office. Her appointment ended around half past six and there was still quite a bit of activity at the Amayzine offices. She complimented us on that, as it was so Dutch to pack your bags around five o'clock and head towards the potatoes.

Cowardly as we are, we didn't mention that we also don't start at traditional Dutch times. At half past eight, you could shoot a cannon here (except for a few diligent souls), but at half past nine, we are present.

According to a sleep expert from Oxford, starting work before ten o'clock is not only unpleasant, it is also unhealthy. I wouldn't know how to start a minute earlier than half past nine. I get up at six o'clock, really. That's the starting point of my obstacle course. Walking with the dog, squeezing oranges (and meanwhile sifting through three morning newspapers), making sandwiches, filling lunch boxes, peeling apples, showering, getting dressed, putting on makeup, dressing the kids, brushing teeth, unloading the dishwasher (and then thinking: why didn't I do that last night??) and then loading it again and running to school.

If I then step on the gas, I set my foot over the threshold here at 09:30. But that could just as easily be at 09:45. Okay, I probably worked until 11:00 in the evening, but that was with a blanket on the couch, so that doesn't feel like work.

According to Kelley, the sleep professor, we live in a sleep deficit society, which affects our physical and emotional performance.

So we are doing well at the office. Can someone arrange for schools to start a little later? An hour later or so? Then we immediately tackle the work pressure problem of the teachers tackled.