Do less, then obsess: How to get ahead at work

Working longer hours does not mean working more productively, says a management professor who argues that doing fewer tasks equals better results. He talks to Marjorie Brennan.

MORTEN Hansen is speaking to me from San Francisco; it is 8am on the US west coast and he has been up since 5am, for a radio interview. As a management professor at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley, and an author of several books, he knows all about putting in the hours to achieve success. However, in his book, Great at Work, Hansen argues that you can get more out of doing less in the workplace, something you will be glad to hear if you have ever felt a twinge of guilt or anxiety at being the first to leave the office.