Just as a turkey would campaign ceaselessly against Christmas, I am a full-time employee who supports a four-day working week.
Admittedly, this is not my most original opinion. It is out of self-interest and, some might say, it’s the sign of someone who wants an easier ride in life. But there is more to this, a genuine belief in the four-day week’s tangible benefits, not just to the individual but to the collective.
Today I treated myself to a random day of annual leave. Officially, I ran a half-marathon yesterday so I knew I’d be sore and in need of some rest. Unofficially, yesterday was also St Patrick’s Day so I knew I’d be sore and in need of some rest.
I get 24 days of annual leave plus bank holidays. Of these 24, almost all are used for trips away, except today, which was spent mainly at home, and even more spectacularly, at the same table from which I usually work. It’s giving mundane, but in spite of this, I have had literally the most slay day, like ever. How very Gen Z of me.
I woke up at 9:15am, the sweet spot between the early bird and the dosser. I ate a cooked breakfast which covered most food groups. I completed some life admin so that by lunch (also cooked and covering most food groups) I had cleared my inbox, read some articles I’d missed over the weekend, and redeemed a gift voucher I received at Christmas. I punctuated my day with a sunny stroll with my girlfriend (see cover photo) then got my head down with some homework for an evening class. In relation to my normal Monday I had slept better, eaten better, been more active and felt more relaxed. A splendid day of leisure, albeit built on the foundations of my colleagues’ toil.
As is my right, after all. I think I, and a lot of us, hold a false and unhealthy view that there needs to be a valid reason for taking leave, otherwise it’s a total waste. What I found today was that a non-working weekday is actually a gamechanger. I’ve stocked up on so many endorphins that whatever happens between Tuesday and Friday, I should be well-equipped to bat it all away. I won’t exactly be skipping into the office tomorrow, but I’ll definitely have enough spring in my step if I wanted to.
‘Why can’t every Monday be like this?’ was the question on everyone’s my lips today. The extra time to think about non-work things led me to think about work things – crucially – as part of the bigger picture. Wouldn’t a four-day week be amazing for everyone?
I’m being serious, here. Coincidentally, one of the articles I caught up on today reported that 20,000 Brits are off work every month due to poor mental health. This was shocking but unsurprising given how many people I know with this experience – myself included.
Work-related stress tends to snowball into effect. Your team is understaffed so there’s a work overload, then a lack of control, then overwhelm, then burnout. That lack of control hits hard because you lose touch with your non-work responsibilities. The house is a mess, you haven’t called your mum in two weeks and your gym membership is obsolete. Consequently, your life is crap even when you’re not at work. I don’t think a four-day week would eradicate this entirely, but it would absolutely arrest the slide by giving workers a bit of their lives back.
Part of the issue with making this happen is that, actually, a lot of people don’t want it. Or, they think it’s unfeasible. These people are like turkeys who accept Christmas for its wider economic importance – the realists who revel in pointing out that we don’t live in an ideal world. Jeremy Corbyn was hilariously shut down by voters who viewed four additional bank holidays as pie-in-the-sky politics. Turkey pie, presumably.
It’s also disheartening to see something as important as work-life balance become yet another culture war, woke-liberal-nonsense, Gen Z-insanity-klaxon issue. There may be a grain of truth in my generation’s workshy tendencies, but contrary to popular belief we don’t spend all of our free time on Tiktok – I only averaged 2 hours a day last week! Seriously, I think us youngsters are rightly concerned about worsening working conditions. Ask yourself: how many people do you know that have taken mental health leave? Are they all skivers? Are they all out to compromise the economic output of the United Kingdom?
I don’t think so. And even if you don’t think so either, you may still maintain that the four-day week would grind the economy to a halt. Thankfully, trials and research are underway to get to the bottom of this four-day lark and effectively prove you wrong. Early results show most companies stick with four days, reaping the benefits of an energised workforce. Feedback from participating firms – not yet bankrupt – calms nerves about productivity levels.
As Roosevelt said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. In that spirit, fear not what life would look like if you took next Wednesday off. Dream instead of what you could do with it. An overdue trip to the waste and recycling centre. A few lengths at the local swimming baths. Why not bake a turkey pie for afterwards? It will barely cost the the country a penny, but you will be all the richer for dedicating some time for yourself.
Chris Perrin 