Culture / What Pisses Me Off: The 5-day Work Week

What Pisses Me Off: The 5-day Work Week

Culture Dec 08, 2021

by Rachna Sethi

We work. We work, we work, we work and then work some more. How have we gotten to a place where so many of us spend more time working every week than we do playing? Is that what it means to be an adult? Who made these rules? Why do we think we need to continuously be running on a professional hamster wheel? What pisses me off is the 5-day work week!

What Pisses Me Off The 5-Day Work Week

This rant has been a long-time coming f-or me and in the hopes to increase awareness on the importance of living life (and not just working through it), I’m ready to yell into offices near and far that what pisses me off is the 5-day work week.

The COVD-19, global pandemic has been a challenging experience for many of us – full of change and uncertainty. It hasn’t been easy, but it has served as a reminder for many people on the importance of prioritizing health, loved ones and taking a slower approach to life. We live in a constant state of “doing” and busyness. We are so busy that often the two-days we have off (in a standard work week), are full of the personal errands (e.g. grocery, laundry, etc.) that we need to do in order to get through the work week. Add in trying to see family and friends and the result is very little down time to rest, self-reflect, connect with our self, and enjoy the art of doing nothing.

**What Pisses Me Off: The 5-day Work Week: We are in a constant state of “go” leading to longer states of exhaustion.** Photo Credit: www.unsplash.com

How can working so much be harmful?

This never-ending “rat race” can impact our mental health and wellbeing in a few different ways, some of which include:

A disconnect from the present moment (this may arise in feeling like life is passing you by, a loss of time, a sensation of the days passing you by in a blur).
Storing tension in the body; even if you feel you can keep pushing yourself mentally, it’s so important to stop and give your body a break to prevent stress being held in the body (this may arise as headaches, tension in the shoulders, sweating, a racing heart, sleepless nights).
Feeling overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list (this may arise as feeling pulled in several directions, like you can’t slow down, or your life will fall apart, heightened sensations about stress).
Feeling shame for when you try prioritizing rest (this may arise in self-talk or hearing from others that you are “lazy” for taking a day of relaxation). This is a narrative we need to change because research demonstrates that being rested, feeling calm and/or happy can increase our productivity by up to 31%.
Feeling insecure that we aren’t “doing” enough, or don’t have “enough” (this may arise in self-talk like “I should be making more money, I should own a house by now, I should be taking luxurious vacations). Social media has made comparing our life to the lives other people project online far to common (friendly reminders: comparison is the thief of joy and people usually only put their best moments online, not their daily challenges).

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that a 4-day work week would solve all the challenges above however, it would help by creating more time for us to navigate the busyness and enjoy our personal life.

Would a 4-day work week make us less productive?

Research is demonstrating that when companies implement a 4-day work week effectively, (32 hours/week instead of 40 with the same pay and benefits), productivity does not decrease and employee wellness can.

Pilot programs and/or implementation of the 4-day work week is already happening in some countries including Spain, Iceland, Japan and New Zealand have all been launched with workers reporting an increase in productivity by 35-40%.

Some of the large companies in the United States trying out the 4-day work week include Kickstarter and Unilever.

In Canada, the huge e-commerce platform Shopify’s CEO Tobias Lutke, worth about $3.6 billion has 4-day work week in the past and has been vocal about not creating a culture where working additional nights and weekends are considered “normal” or the path to success.

What if we love our work?

For those of you who may be thinking along the lines of “well if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work,” let me gently stop you with that thought…

I love what I do; I know my purpose is to be a teacher that helps support others connect with their mind, body, spirit – I’m in love with my work and grateful for it. But you know what else I love? Spending time with loved ones, travelling, exercising, cooking and sometimes doing absolutely nothing. Even when we love our work, it doesn’t mean it’s healthy for it to consume so much of our waking life. A balanced life of wellness creates space for a variety of nourishing activities so I encourage us to be cautious with this type of perspective – even when we love our work, it’s important to set boundaries and experience all the other joys of life on a regular basis.

What can we do to help make change?

Speak up and keep the conversation going! Talk to your colleagues, reach out to the leaders in your organization, look up what companies are trying it out and/or spread the word on social media platforms such as LinkedIN, Instagram or Facebook (you can share this article to start). It may not be easy to be the first one to start the conversation but inspiring change (even when it’s for the better) rarely is. The more of us that try and come together to support each other, the easier it may become.

Main Image Photo Credit: www.unsplash.com

Rachna Sethi

Author

Rachna (@thesassyspiritual) is a graduate of the Applied Mindfulness Meditation program from the University of Toronto, a certified Educator with two bachelor degrees and a diploma in Art Therapy. She's dedicated to living with a compassionate approach. Committed to helping people integrate Mindfuln...

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What Pisses Me Off: The 5-day Work Week

by Rachna Sethi

Rachna Sethi

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