3 day weekend - to think this what is needed to have a decent quality of life?

[Whatifthegrassisblue]

Where does the time go? AIBU to think there is not enough time? By the time you catch up on chores, spend time with family, catch up with friends and try and have some time as a family as well ....it just doesn't happen. I was thinking about it ...1 day for chores and "life admin", leaves the other 52 days to split between time as a family, your extended family and friends. Let alone just wanting to have a day and chill and do nothing, or go on a holiday. I feel I am doing life wrong 😕 Does anyone else feel this way or AIBU?

I take Thursdays off. Never working more than two days in a row is game changing for me.

YANBU. I wish that weeks were 8 days long ... Don't mind working 5 days, but then with a longer, 3 day, weekend. Of course this is never going to happen but I have always thought that would be such a great solution !

I work Wednesday- Saturday (30 hours over 4 days) since third baby and I wish I had done it sooner!! I don’t earn much less since I pay less tax and I love it! Perfect balance. Home days fly by, as do work days. Every day is a happy day, not wishing I’m at the opposite place (home/work) because neither is too long 😊

I work a four day week since having kids and it’s a revelation.

I’m also equally productive or slightly more productive at work because I’m less shattered. So my employer is getting much better value for money from me, which is slightly annoying from my point of view.

All the GPS in our surgery work part time already. Literally not one is full time. So it wouldn’t make anything any worse.

And actually, even in construction and other manual roles the four-day week could work. Many types of businesses took part in the trial and around 87% said that production went up.

Think about it — if you knew you had to get your work done in four days you could. You’d just become more productive.

Well either they wouldn’t all work the same four days, so each teacher does four days but they split it so the kids are in school for five, OR we would just have a four-day school week. No home schooling required. Three-day weekend for everyone.

@Tiddler39 but that physically doesn't work in so many professions.

It's all very well saying "you'll just increase your productivity" but when you're restricted by things like the time it takes paint to dry, or how long it takes to mix cement and plaster, you can't just work quicker and get more done. It's not physically possible.

If DH has a house to plaster, he can't just work quicker and get more walls done in a day - as he still needs to stop and mix fresh plaster, and wait for things to dry. The painters and tilers who come in after him can't start their jobs until the plaster is dry - so dropping to a four day week would just mean jobs take even longer to complete.

You also can't change the construction industry to operating 24-7 either - as there are (understandably) limits on when you can make loud noises and operate heavy machinery, so it's not like they can work longer days to make up for it.

For outside work, you also need to take into consideration things like daylight hours and weather conditions - it's just not the same as working at a computer in an office.

It's very easy to say "all industries can work on a four day week" but the reality isn't quite as straightforward. I used construction as an example, but lots of industries are limited by how long processes take to complete - you can't just magically make them go faster because you're not working on Fridays anymore.

Absolutely.

People working 5 days a week, often long hours and then trying to cram the weekly shop/cleaning/admin at the weekend and barely being able to squeeze in a bit of time for fun/relaxation is not a recipe for a happy life.

This only became the norm not because it the best, healthier way to live but because it suits large corporations and governments who prioritise profit/money/consumerism above anything else.

Basically you spend your life working so that a few people at the top can enjoy a privileged life.

I got out of this treadmill a few years ago once I started having health issues.

I now work 3 days a week and nothing in this world would make me work full time again. I would rather be cash-poor but time-rich because spending so much time in hospital made me realise how short life is and that I had living whatever time I had left.

Using some basic math, it can be done even in construction which I've worked in, as well as prkect management and resourcing. The organisation can still open 5 days, but people themselves could be rostered. In fact it could be more productive because you could open 6 days and have people on rotation. Anything can be done if you put your mind to it. The only restriction is if you work on your own, in which case less hours would mean more output and less money potentially unless you increased your prices. But then that's the downside of having your own business which of course allows you other flexibility.

Sorry typed too quick! You get the jist. It just requires some lateral thinking. Where there's a will, there's a way. The problem is there probably is not much will! 🙂

@Whatifthegrassisblue obviously a shorter week is amazing in theory but we all know that won’t work in lots of jobs. plus I’ve seen multiple threads about how shops etc should be open on Sundays because it’s inconvenient, so seriously who is staffing all these roles??

@Judgyjudgy I still don't see how that works in reality.

You can only have a certain number of people on a job - so if instead of one person working five days, you decide to have two people working four, you're going have overlap and someone stood about with nothing to do.

Humans can't magically move faster than their bodies allow them to do. You also can't magically speed up machinery or change the weather to allow more work to be done in less time - it doesn't work like that.

I also very much doubt that anyone would want noisy building work operating 6-7 days a week from 7am-10pm disrupting their three day weekends

This is literally what someone who specialises in this does, a resource planner. In construction, and other types of project management you have multiple constraints, noise restrictions, traffic, weather, people, specialist equipment, specialised skills etc; it's their job to figure it out. They're clever people, much more than me 😁🤷‍♀️ How else do you think giant skyscrapers, underground rail etc gets built. It's not the same 10 people, working 40 hours, 9-5, 5 days a week 🙃😉

I don't think it would work everywhere, in fact perhaps we are the problem given we demand things to be open and quickly done in the first place. One can dream, the 3 day weekend is definitely the dream for me (although winning the lottery would be better!!). Who knows maybe it might be a thing in the future, 10 years ago everyone would've also scoffed at working from home ... we shall see

Great.

To start let's get civil servants and council workers doing 7 days per wèek.

It wouldn't involve anyone working more hours, just in a different pattern.

But there's nothing magic about a 5 day working week either. It's completely arbitrary, and was invented in an era when life and work was quote different.

We don't need to be more productive. Automation is increasing exponentially, and every year there are fewer jobs for people. The great upcoming challenge is finding stuff for people to do.

I mean, for example, thanks to technology, there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone. People go hungry because it's not distributed well. Keeping people on an industrial-era treadmill work pattern won't fix this issue.

@DifferenceEngines @VeniVidiWeeWee

5 days is totally arbitrary, and it is just a different pattern. Things can change, think outside of the box people. A 3 day weekend would be fantastic, 2 days isn't enough for me, I feel like a hamster on a wheel. Bring it on, I say 🤗🥳

I meant to say I agree with your comments! @DifferenceEngines @VeniVidiWeeWee clearly getting too excited thinking about a 3 day weekend that I forgot to finish the rest of my post 🤦‍♀️🤣

I moved not through choice to part time this year. It's improved homelife dramatically, mh for family too. No doubt once the house is finally decluttered I will do more interesting things in the day.

I don't have any work emails on my phone and my laptop is locked away if mot working. I can't see my workspace. If I get a text message I might respond but I'm not an international heart surgeon so it can always wait.

Basically you spend your life working so that a few people at the top can enjoy a privileged life.

Rubbish! You spend your life working so you can afford the things you want in life. No-one is forced to work full-time, you choose to do so. I realise there are people who have to work as many hours as possible just to make ends meet, but many others do it so they can afford holidays, a nicer house, a better car, to send their kids to a fancy school - all their choice.

@DifferenceEngines I understand it's arbitrary but society is still set up to function around a five day week.

Yes, some industries can easily be dropped to four days with probably little or minimal impact but I'm still not convinced that it will work for everyone and for every industry.

Not everything can be magically changed in order to increase people's productivity - in many industries you're still reliant on time or good weather, or daylight to get things done.

You could change it to a seven day working week with people on a roster only working four days at a time, but then you're going to lose the "weekend" as we know it and industries that are currently on a four day week (like childcare and nurseries) will need to operate seven days a week to cover.

Yep - I bet most people wouldn't be so keen if their "weekend" meant they suddenly had to pay for childcare on a Saturday and Sunday as their "four day week" was actually going to be Thursday through Monday, for example.

But then if a five day week is arbitrary, so is a traditional weekend, so maybe they'd be quite happy to give it up completely

I think you've completely missed the point of this thread 🤔

Plenty of people are so invested in the status quo they can't get their heads around how it could be different.

The 5 day week is arbitrary. Does anyone remember Sundays when all the shops were closed? Half day closing on Wednesday?

That was change, it can change again.