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 also learned that my family can get by with less income and that started to inform how I took time off going forward." I think this is a common sentiment amongst workers post-COVID. I don't have data on this, but I believe a lot of the "no one wants to work anymore" sentiment was from families realizing they could get by with less, and opting to spend more time not working.
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.
It's very hard to spend the energy doing things when we're drained from working five days straight. An extra day off would be prime hiking/museum time!
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).”
Perhaps with chores creeping into the third day, we’d also find ways for fun to creep in too. So maybe it would still be worthwhile. All the cramming in most of us do in two days would spill into the third day, and that’s still better than being at work, right?
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.
Yes! It takes so much effort just to do domestic labor. TBH we should have a day dedicated just to that. One day off for domestic work, one day off for leisure, one day off for community/family.
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.
That brings up a good point. I feel like at least 50% of our weekend is just doing chores and domestic labor/errands, such as going to the business you run. IMO, a big reason people feel so drained is that there's still "work" to be done once the workweek has ended.
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.
I know I put the question as the extra day off would be Monday, but TBH a day break in the middle of the week might be the way to go! Two days of work followed by a break sounds like it would keep me from getting overloaded.
And this is my conspiracy brain talking, but I think banks set up their hours to be purposefully disruptive. IDK why
I would be all in on 3x13's. A lot of old guard labor people howl about the fight for the 8 hour day, but my take is that early labor activists were fighting for worker empowerment, and part of that would be choosing where/when they worked. I think the people that fought for us would be all in on a compressed work schedule.
While I personally think 3x13s would be hell for me, I totally agree with your sentiment - the choice of when to work should be left to the workers. Anything that advances that goal I'm all for!
It'd be a grind for me, but having 4 days off every week? I think it'd be worth it. They had a similar set up for the mechanic group in one of our hubs. Even though it was for graveyard, it proved extremely popular.
This reminds me of nurses' schedules. They have to work 36 hours a week, so I've heard some of them do three nights back to back, then get a week off. The more flexibility people have over their schedules, the better!
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 also learned that my family can get by with less income and that started to inform how I took time off going forward." I think this is a common sentiment amongst workers post-COVID. I don't have data on this, but I believe a lot of the "no one wants to work anymore" sentiment was from families realizing they could get by with less, and opting to spend more time not working.
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.
It's very hard to spend the energy doing things when we're drained from working five days straight. An extra day off would be prime hiking/museum time!
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).”
Off you might be right. I've long told myself I'm going to learn Spanish, but when the additional time comes my Duolingo app stays closed.
Perhaps with chores creeping into the third day, we’d also find ways for fun to creep in too. So maybe it would still be worthwhile. All the cramming in most of us do in two days would spill into the third day, and that’s still better than being at work, right?
It is for me!
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.
Yes! It takes so much effort just to do domestic labor. TBH we should have a day dedicated just to that. One day off for domestic work, one day off for leisure, one day off for community/family.
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.
That brings up a good point. I feel like at least 50% of our weekend is just doing chores and domestic labor/errands, such as going to the business you run. IMO, a big reason people feel so drained is that there's still "work" to be done once the workweek has ended.
For sure. Business owners tend to have it pretty bad on that front, too: we don't really ever take ANY days off. I sure try!
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.
I know I put the question as the extra day off would be Monday, but TBH a day break in the middle of the week might be the way to go! Two days of work followed by a break sounds like it would keep me from getting overloaded.
And this is my conspiracy brain talking, but I think banks set up their hours to be purposefully disruptive. IDK why
I would be all in on 3x13's. A lot of old guard labor people howl about the fight for the 8 hour day, but my take is that early labor activists were fighting for worker empowerment, and part of that would be choosing where/when they worked. I think the people that fought for us would be all in on a compressed work schedule.
While I personally think 3x13s would be hell for me, I totally agree with your sentiment - the choice of when to work should be left to the workers. Anything that advances that goal I'm all for!
It'd be a grind for me, but having 4 days off every week? I think it'd be worth it. They had a similar set up for the mechanic group in one of our hubs. Even though it was for graveyard, it proved extremely popular.
This reminds me of nurses' schedules. They have to work 36 hours a week, so I've heard some of them do three nights back to back, then get a week off. The more flexibility people have over their schedules, the better!