No, I think that’s utter nonsense. Working longer hours leads to fatigue and mistakes, which result in lower overall productivity. This has been measured objectively in a variety of industries, including knowledge work.

I’m not going to dig up proper references right now, but here are a few random links from Google to get you started: http://www.igda.org/articles/erobinson_crunch.php http://a-little-time.blogspot.com/2007/08/longer-hours-work-vs-productivity.html http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5190.html

Intuitively, we all know that we get more done in less time when we are at our best, than when we force ourselves to keep going beyond our natural limits. We’ve all experienced those golden hours in “the zone” when productivity is multiplied. We should look for ways to access our most productive states, rather than cramming more hours into the day.

I’m chewing on a different but somewhat similar problem: during work time, I often open my mailbox to refer to something sent previously, but it’s very easy to notice other mails, either newer or ones matching the same search, and have them intrude on what I was originally thinking about. Possibly this can be fixed entirely in my head.