Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-13
Rest Pauses.

The psychology of work Is Of enor-
nous consequence in our type OF indus-
trial civilization. It's too late TO con-
slider whether factories are suited TO
human psychology: the human plant
must be adjusted. while yet 1t is con-
sidered. to the industrial plant and
the necessities of output 1t must
all be done humanely and humanity;
for beyond a certain pliabillty nature
will not yield to the machine
The machine of steel proposes, but
the human mechanism dlSposeS; IL
can't work all the time. The most
favorable alienation of work and rest
becomes an interesting problem. II
work is light rest pauses are unneces-
sary; where heavy effort is involved
rest pauses pay; they increase the et1l-
cheney. The experiment may be made
with so simple an instrument as
dynamometer which you grip IN the
hand making as strong contraction
or squeeze as you can and the lnstru-
ment records the pressure III you
squeeze every two seconds so times the
second half of the record will fall about
40 per cent below the first half IN work
done. showing fatigue; but II you IN
troduce a rest pause OF two minutes
between the halves las In loot pam
your second half falls below your f1rSt
half by only II per cent.
Then there is wartime experiment
in making shoes. Where TWO girls
had been working continuously Tor
eight hours on machine they were
engaged each to work 40 minutes ana
rest 20 minutes of each hour. On this
nlan each operative worked one-third
less than eight hours, but the output
was increased by about 40 per cent.
Or to put it on the weekly basis, the
output for each operative on 46-hour
week was az gross of shoes: but where
1 that was reduced to a 30-hour week
! by the introduction of rest-pauses, the
| output went up to 40 gross So rest
! pauses pay.
/ The laboratory permits of more ex-
/ tensive experimentation than the fac
/ tory. though the conditions are more
| artificial, for working at shoe ma
| chinery is more constructive thar
/ pulling chest-weights or working a
/ rowing apparatus. Each Of these Is
/ so arranged as to register the amount
/ of work done; it is a work register
/ instead of cash register. You car
/ try five-minute rest pauseS; you car
try light finger and forearm work; vol
| can try heavy work with large muscles
AS in rowing; you can try frequent bu
short rest pauses as against longer anC
less frequent rests.
There are many factors involved, anc
there always remains the important
factors. not easily measurable. of thC
difficulty the strain, the complication
of the job. Yet with allowances for thi'
and with bearing particularly on thC
simpler types of work few genera
conclusions stand out
The small muscles rest more rapidly
than the large muscles, and unless tht
work is carried on for very long period:
recovery is rapid On the whole. brie1
rests pay: they pay both ways-they
shorten the work period; they start re-
cuperation before fatigue goes too far
Next. despite constant conditions, thu
output varies, more so in complicated
than in simple work. The human ma
chine doesn't work as regularly as the
mechanical machine The effect Of
rest pauses comes out better in series
Of successive rest pauses carried through
/ the day than in one long period with
/ the first half separated by rest from
/ the second half. The effect of rest con-
Stantly diminishes
. Work with tired muscles is WaSteful
| In general, and especially for heavier
| work. short but frequent rests are more
efficient than longer but more infre-
Quent rests 1t pays to break up wors
periods and the more susceptible yol
are to fatigue the more YOU need res
pauscs A short nap is a wonderful
restorer.
All this suggests a general program
of adjustment OF the necessities of out
put TO the vet more important condi
lions of human effort, It's a satisfac