Why Not a Three-Day Week?
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Why Not a Three-Day Week?
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Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#2I've always thought a four-day week makes a lot more sense than five... 4:3 on/off is a much nicer ratio than 5:2.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#3This is the biggest thing I miss from my consulting days. I would never work a 5-day week. It would either be a 3-day or 4-day week, leaving lots of time for travel, family and hobbies.
Sadly, I could never see our clients accepting any business day where we are not available during regular business hours.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#4Why not? Because capitalism. New technology will continue to automate away more and more jobs, from manufacturing to the service industry. This could be one of the greatest achievements in human history, leading to that so-called "leisure society" futurists talked about, but that would require a massive overhaul of most countries' economic systems.
All those gains in productivity mostly enrich the owner class while the rest of us have to fight even harder for the jobs that haven't (yet) been eliminated by technology.
In the U.S., it's hard to imagine getting a single conservative lawmaker to sit down at a table and have a frank discussion about wealth redistribution or a minimum income or public ownership schemes, possible solutions to this problem. That makes me worry that the inevitable transition away from our obsession with the free-market and pursuit of capital will be painful rather than celebratory. And that things will have to get worse before enough of us can consider implementing solutions that make things better.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#5w/r/t The Protestant Work Ethic:
The book only gets a one-sentence mention in the article, but much, much more could be said. Particularly, it presents overworking as a form of paranoia.
Working was framed as a duty to God and since we didn't know if God existed, we were to work hard, just in case. Now that we've (largely) shifted our beliefs from a Christian god to more diffused spirituality, we can stop justifying overwork in this way.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#6Haven't tried it myself, but I like the idea of working a 9/80 with every other Friday off. One interesting effect is that those who are in the office on Friday end up feeling more productive or relaxed since there are fewer people around. I also wonder if every other Monday off might be better in some cases.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#7I've always thought a four-day week makes a lot more sense than five... 4:3 on/off is a much nicer ratio than 5:2.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#8Why not? Because capitalism. New technology will continue to automate away more and more jobs, from manufacturing to the service industry. This could be one of the greatest achievements in human history, leading to that so-called "leisure society" futurists talked about, but that would require a massive overhaul of most countries' economic systems. All those gains in productivity mostly enrich the owner class while t…
One of the biggest practical hurdles to that sort of wealth distribution is simply that there is a whole world of people outside the US ready and willing to accept investment and residence from the owner class.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#9I've always thought a four-day week makes a lot more sense than five... 4:3 on/off is a much nicer ratio than 5:2.
It's exactly what I'm thinking about lately. A lot of colleagues of mine work 4 days a week, from Mon - Thu, and have 3 days off. It is a HUGE difference compared to the 5:2 ratio.
It's not that I don't enjoy my job, but it sound so much sane to me. I hope next year I'll have saved a little bit of money I currently need so I'll be able to do a 4 day working week.
Re: Why Not a Three-Day Week?
#10w/r/t The Protestant Work Ethic: The book only gets a one-sentence mention in the article, but much, much more could be said. Particularly, it presents overworking as a form of paranoia. Working was framed as a duty to God and since we didn't know if God existed, we were to work hard, just in case . Now that we've (largely) shifted our beliefs from a Christian god to more diffused spirituality, we can stop justifying…
> Now that we've (largely) shifted our beliefs from a Christian god to more diffused spirituality
Where did you get that from? A quick google search says about 3/4 of Americans identify as Christian, and about 62% are members of a church congregation.