4 Day Work Week

Everyone has somewhere to be, something to do, and we do not have time. That's the one thing we miss having - is time. We go through life rushing and not being able to stop and smell the roses or stop and watch your child play soccer or hockey or dance recitals. More and more companies are starting to think about converting to a four-day work week.

Picture this...

You are up at five in the morning, you look at the cellphone by the bedside table and the disappointing fact that it is five o'clock in the morning and you need to get ready for work. So, you go downstairs, you get the coffee maker going, and you stare out the window and see your reflection. You have not slept well again for the fourth night in a row. The large bags under your eyes say it all. You drink your coffee while scrolling through your phone, and you check your family calendar. It's your child's dance recital tonight, you've completely forgotten about it. Great, so it will be come home, make dinner, do her hair, and make sure her outfit still fits as she has been growing like crazy - or maybe order pizza on the way home from work or get your spouse to do it. Then, you need to check her shoes to make sure they don't have holes in them. When will it all end? You get in the shower and get dressed, your second cup of coffee finishes brewing, you make a note for your daughter before school, and you grab your to-go travel mug. You get in your car and drive to work. At work, you need to miss your lunch to get that report in, you do a five-minute walk to the water cooler, refill your water bottle, and you work until 5, you get into your car and sit in traffic for forty minutes, and you finally make it home. You see that the pizza has arrived. Thank goodness, you get ready, you look for tights for your daughter's recital that are not ripped, you finally find a good enough pair, you do her hair, and we get all the children in the car after repeating yourself ten times for them to get their shoes on. You do last-minute lipstick in the car, you all get out, and she goes backstage. Thank goodness. After the recital, you stop and talk to Janine (one of the moms), and then you get everyone in the car again, and you finally make it home. Then, your youngest son Jaimie remembered that he has a school project due tomorrow, so you drive to the 24-hour Walmart and here goes your fifth night of no sleep in a row. You wake up the next day, your body aches, you have a migraine, and you have a runny nose. You feel like throwing up, so you call in sick. There goes another day of no pay this month.

Now, imagine this...

You wake up at 7:00, you throw on some sweatpants and a tee shirt, you gather your children to school, you repeat yourself ten times, "Get your jacket on," and they finally listen to you, you get them all in the car, and you drop them off at school. You go home, start doing laundry, go through your children's rooms looking for old socks to make sure nothing was missed, you set the laundry on, you finish loading the dishwasher and set it on, and then you change into more decent clothing and head out to do grocery shopping. You complete that and head home, you start making dinner, and you throw it in the oven. Then, you have a minute, you review your children's homework to make sure they don't have last-minute projects due, you check the calendar, and it looks like soccer is today, you get the soccer gear ready and make sure everything is washed and clean and you do the last load of laundry. You finish the laundry and put the soccer bag in the car. Then, you have a minute to sit down and watch your television show while folding the laundry. You then get ready and pick up the children at school. You get home, and your spouse gets home, and you eat dinner together and drive your child to soccer. Then, the weekend comes and you can all go to the park together, the next day you can go to the zoo and you feel like you've finally had a great weekend.

The benefits of the four-day work week is amazing.

1. You don't feel exhausted

You finally have time to rest, and no need to rush to do grocery shopping on Saturday. You get a day of a more relaxed schedule and get more time with your family or to sleep in if you want to.

2. Less likely to be sick

Since you have one day off in the week, your body can rest, and you have more time to get your household tasks done so you do not have to rush to get everything done in the weekend.

3. Burnout is less likely to happen

Burnout is something I have experienced recently. I had little motivation to show up to work, my mind was not sharp, and it took me longer to get simple tasks done up until I went away on vacation. I would not have felt that way if I was working one less day. Weekends tend to go by too fast, and I feel like I do not have enough time to do everything from house chores to seeing friends and family.

4. Increase in happiness

The companies that are doing the four-day work week find that employees are more motivated and are happier since converting their work days to a four-day work week. There is less of a monetary motivation and more self-motivation that happens.

5. Better efficiency

Companies that have done this found that people are working more efficiently because people are more well-rested.

6. Reduced overhead costs

One less work day means one day more for the company. What do I mean when I say that? That means it costs less for a company to run four days a week than five. That saves more money for the company, and it keeps employees happier.

7. Environmental Benefits

Less commuting, less driving and less emissions. Some people spend hours in traffic; imagine if you did not have to do that, emissions would go down and people would have less road rage because they would only need to commute four days rather than five.

There are many positives for people to convert to a four-day work week. Many studies have shown that there are more positive effects than negative.

What are your thoughts?

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