Not everyone will go to four day work weeks in the companies that make this change because some jobs and some responsibilities simply dictate at least five days of service and availability. And, of course, not all employers will make the change. But the big news is that some employers are making the change. This writer can think of no better way to reduce workplace stress. I hope that a trend develops until it becomes the national norm to have every weekend a three day weekend!
The shorter work week with longer working hours on the workdays is not new. This approach, along with flex hours and shared shifts (two people sharing one job) are practices long advocated by unions and supported generally by leaders of the adult education movement. Three consecutive days off from work allows so much more usable time for adults to attend to other dimensions of their lives. Some of these include exercise, social interaction, care of family, involvement with church, leisure pursuits, vacation, recreation, sports and hobbies, community service, and education.
Many people have never found an eight hour five day work week to make sense. The instinct is to work when we work and play when we play. Eight hours at work eats up travel time to and from work, as well as the prime time hours of those working days. It is enough time to make any additional activities before or after work either impractical or too energy-draining. But eight hours do not necessarily use up all of the hours and energy we have available for work. In other words, by spreading forty hours of work over five days one could say we get the worst of all worlds: five days are taken for work, we experience rush hour ten times a week, and the remaining two days have too much crammed into them because of all the things we couldn't get to during the work week.
As a result attendance at adult events has been falling off for many years. So, too has the number of adults stepping forth to be volunteers. More and more adults in any household must work to support the household, and must work longer hours. There is less and less time remaining for other pursuits.
Why stop at four day work weeks? Why not also go to four day school weeks? Many children already spend time before and after classes at school while their parents are at work. A longer school day would not be such a drastic change from current schedules but every Friday off would be a great change, for the better. This would also allow teachers and administrators to be on a four day work week.
Flexibility in schedule is a prime stress management and stress prevention consideration, something long overdue in this country. Never mind that it could come about as a result of economic considerations. And yes, it will create some problems and difficulties. On the other hand, consider the difficulties with the five day work week, beginning with rush hour traffic and five days out of every seven gobbled up by a job. Many of us have become so accustomed to these difficulties that we no longer perceive them as difficulties, just part of life!
As a nation we have before us the opportunity to make lemonade out of a lemon. The high price of gasoline represents not only a challenge to live with less consumption of fuel but also to become more flexible about the makeup of our work week. A better use of time, not just a better use of gasoline, would do us all some good.
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