As Labor Day weekend means this week is a 4-day workweek, I ask you to consider this: How would an additional day off work every week impact your life?
If you didn’t have to work on Mondays, what would you do with your added free time? Would you learn a new hobby? Travel more? Spend time with your family? Sit on the couch?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Remember, it’s your time, so there are no wrong answers.
Personally, I'd dedicate the extra day to spending time with friends, especially those I'm not super close with. It's a common sentiment amongst people my age that we still have the desire to meet new people, but are just so tired from work and so busy with other commitments that it's damn-near impossible.
With another day off, we could meet more people, build closer relationships, and live happier lives.
During the pandemic, my employer cut our hours by 25% (despite our tax dollars paying for me to work 40), and I got to try a 4 day work week for the first time as an adult. I loved it. More time to hang out with my kids (school was still online), and more time to just do whatever. I also learned that my family can get by with less income and that started to inform how I took time off going forward.
Flash forward to today: I normally have F/S off, but have taken almost every Thursday this summer off. I've been treating each of these as a dry run for semi-retirement; I let the sun wake me up, I enjoy my coffee instead of guzzling it, try to get a good chunk of writing done, play with my dog, and play records. There's also plenty of time outside, and (ideally) a long bike ride.
I’d also take more time to get out and about, spending more time enjoying museums, the outdoors, and enjoying time with friends. A four day workweek would definitely give me more space to mentally and physically relax.
You know how you’d tell yourself “when I get that raise, I’m going to (fill in the blank: save more, invest more, renovate something, etc.)” and then the raise comes and within two months you’ve adjusted to the additional money by somehow expanding your expenses and all of a sudden it feels like you never actually got the raise after all?
I feel like an extra day off would just mean my chores/errands would just expand into the third day, as much as I would want to respond to your query with “I’d hike more” or “I’d spend more time with (so and so).”
Most working people have to play catch-up and have to use one of our 'days off' to run errands, clean house, do laundry....so it's not exactly leisure time. A four-day work week would actually give people a weekend free and clear! Ahhhhh.
Well, I run a customer-facing business in my "day job", so most of this would mean adjusting to the new flow of folks coming in at times we weren't traditionally used to. I've seen a lot of these types of shifts over the last 15 years or so.
I envy those friends of mine who can cut a work week in two, or schedule a longer weekend. Typically, those people work longer, 12-hr shifts.
Breaks are critical for me, and one in the middle of the week would give me so much time for hobbies and enjoying Denver during the week. I dream of a time when I can go to the bank during its actual hours of operation.
Personally, I'd dedicate the extra day to spending time with friends, especially those I'm not super close with. It's a common sentiment amongst people my age that we still have the desire to meet new people, but are just so tired from work and so busy with other commitments that it's damn-near impossible.
With another day off, we could meet more people, build closer relationships, and live happier lives.
During the pandemic, my employer cut our hours by 25% (despite our tax dollars paying for me to work 40), and I got to try a 4 day work week for the first time as an adult. I loved it. More time to hang out with my kids (school was still online), and more time to just do whatever. I also learned that my family can get by with less income and that started to inform how I took time off going forward.
Flash forward to today: I normally have F/S off, but have taken almost every Thursday this summer off. I've been treating each of these as a dry run for semi-retirement; I let the sun wake me up, I enjoy my coffee instead of guzzling it, try to get a good chunk of writing done, play with my dog, and play records. There's also plenty of time outside, and (ideally) a long bike ride.
I’d also take more time to get out and about, spending more time enjoying museums, the outdoors, and enjoying time with friends. A four day workweek would definitely give me more space to mentally and physically relax.
You know how you’d tell yourself “when I get that raise, I’m going to (fill in the blank: save more, invest more, renovate something, etc.)” and then the raise comes and within two months you’ve adjusted to the additional money by somehow expanding your expenses and all of a sudden it feels like you never actually got the raise after all?
I feel like an extra day off would just mean my chores/errands would just expand into the third day, as much as I would want to respond to your query with “I’d hike more” or “I’d spend more time with (so and so).”
Most working people have to play catch-up and have to use one of our 'days off' to run errands, clean house, do laundry....so it's not exactly leisure time. A four-day work week would actually give people a weekend free and clear! Ahhhhh.
Well, I run a customer-facing business in my "day job", so most of this would mean adjusting to the new flow of folks coming in at times we weren't traditionally used to. I've seen a lot of these types of shifts over the last 15 years or so.
I envy those friends of mine who can cut a work week in two, or schedule a longer weekend. Typically, those people work longer, 12-hr shifts.
Breaks are critical for me, and one in the middle of the week would give me so much time for hobbies and enjoying Denver during the week. I dream of a time when I can go to the bank during its actual hours of operation.