If you had the choice of working anything less than a Monday-to-Friday workweek, would you take it? More than likely you’re answer is yes, absolutely, in a heartbeat, no question. Lucky for you, there is a telling study you might want to cite next time you enter your boss’ office to negotiate a new schedule or some time off.

Economic researchers published a study in the Melbourne Institute Worker Paper series which found that, for workers over 40-years-old, a three-day workweek could result in their best performance. Some of you are probably hearing this and it’s simply confirming what you’ve known for years based on your own work-life balance. But how did they arrive at the magic number three?

The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research at the University of Melbourne invited 3,500 women and 3,000 men in Australia to have their work habits analyzed through a series of cognitive tests. Some of these included:

• Reading words aloud
• Reciting lists of numbers backwards
• Matching letters and numbers under time pressure

After factoring in people’s quality of life, economic well-being, family structures and employment, economic researchers found that individuals who worked an average of 25 hours per week tended to perform the best. In fact, overall cognitive performance would rise until people hit the 25-hour mark, at which point cognitive test scores began dropping because of fatigue and stress.  READ MORE HERE