Imagine living in a world\u00a0<\/span>of forever,\u00a0<\/span>three-day weekends.<\/p>\n In college, I got a glimpse of that reality.<\/p>\n Freshman year, my academic advisor informed me and my peers that we could plan our own schedules and I used my newfound agency to enroll in classes Monday through Thursday, leaving Fridays completely free. Over the next three years, I somehow managed to maintain that schedule \u2014 until I graduated and got my first job.<\/p>\n Like most employers in America, the nonprofit that hired me encouraged their workers to put in eight hours a day, five days a week. Over time, they recognized what I discovered during my undergrad: People are more productive when we have the option to work flexibly. Soon I was able to negotiate a four-day workweek, but the experience was largely an exception.<\/p>\n As I grew in my career, I shifted back to a long week and put in more hours, often to the point of burning out. It wasn\u2019t until a few years ago that I decided to quit full-time work, set up my own consultancy practice, and reclaim control over my schedule.<\/p>\n The five-day workweek only became a thing in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While I found my way back, I wasted years miserably grinding to climb the proverbial career ladder. If you find yourself in a similar position, here\u2019s what I want you to know: You don\u2019t have to work a certain number of hours to be productive. The concept of \u201ctime\u201d is entirely man-made, the classification of a \u201cweek\u201d is arbitrary, and if you look back far enough, you\u2019ll see that the 40-hour workweek is a short-lived phenomenon.<\/p>\n Let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n Several thousands of years ago<\/a>, every civilization had their own measure of time. The Romans, for instance, had a 10-day week. The neighboring Egyptians followed a calendar with eight days in a week. The seven-day week, as we know it, was coined by the Babylonians, who believed in seven celestial bodies (the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). This concept slowly spread around the world to other cultures, including the Jews, the Persian Empire, the Greeks, and finally to the Romans, who made it official.<\/p>\n The five-day workweek only became a thing in the early 20th\u00a0century.<\/p>\n Well into the Industrial Revolution, the average employee worked 10 to 14 hours a day for six to seven days a week. This went on through the early 1900s when employees finally began to\u00a0form unions<\/a>, and despite being met with much resistance from their employers, they demanded shorter workdays. This demand was partly a result of scarce opportunities that had to be shared among a large, employable workforce.\u00a0Shorter workdays<\/a>\u00a0were expected to create more demand for workers, and also boost their wages.<\/p>\n A major shift, however, occurred in 1926, when Henry Ford\u2019s car company, Ford Motor Co., switched to a 40-hour workweek. But Ford\u2019s decision was not driven by his generosity or care for his employee\u2019s wellbeing. He wanted to sell cars to his own workers, who he believed would be better customers if they had more time off (and he was right).<\/p>\n The 40-hour workweek has stayed with us since.<\/p>\n My point is this: While \u201cthe nine-to-five job\u201d feels pre-ordained, it\u2019s based on an exploitative model less than 100 years old, and it\u2019s about time we rethink it.<\/p>\n Remember a few minutes ago when you imagined that glorious life with a permanent, three-day weekend? Well, in some countries, people are already living out your dream.<\/p>\n Recently,\u00a0Iceland<\/a>\u00a0conducted a trial of 2,500 workers who moved from a 40-hour week to a 35- or 36-hour week. The results confirmed that shorter workweeks improved work-life balance. Further, participants reported feeling less burned out and more productive and happier. Now, countries like Spain, Denmark, and New Zealand are following suit.<\/p>\n The four-day workweek is not a new concept, but Covid and its impact on the corporate world have been a catalyst for its gaining popularity. The work-from-home arrangement in the last year has pushed many of us to question the industrialist model of going into the office every day. It has also made us rethink what we want our workplace to look like. As offices open in some parts of the world,\u00a0employees are asking for more flexibility<\/a>\u00a0in the way they organize their time \u2014 and for good reason.<\/p>\nThe Random History of Time and Labor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Case for a Four-Day Workweek<\/strong><\/h2>\n