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I've told this story before, but about a decade ago I had banked enough PTO days that I was able to take off every Wednesday in the summer (with my boss's permission, natch). So I effectively worked no more than two days in a row for four straight months. Off weekends, work monday/tuesday, off Wednesday, then back to work Thursday/Friday.
The first month went about as expected - "yay! Wednesday off!!". But I wasn't expecting to experience what I did by the second month of my experiment: my mental health and attitude towards work had changed. That "Monday blues" you get was gone. Every work day felt like a "Thursday" or a "Friday" to me - because the "weekend" was no more than a day away. The dread of Sunday evenings knowing work was starting the following day disappeared.
By halfway through my experiment, I was happy to go to work because there was stuff I wanted to accomplish and thus was more efficient at my job. Nobody ever complained that I was gone every Wednesday for four months, my work always got finished on time (or ahead of schedule).
But I really was shocked at how my mental health improved by NOT working five days in a row.
I fully support a four day work week and wish everyone has the opportunity to experience what I did.
I’ve been doing this every year now for the past few years, it’s so freaking nice. I hoard my vacation days til about August-ish, then just take every Wednesday off for the rest of the year, with no particular plans, I just like having a “mid-week weekend”. Sure enough, every week, something usually comes up to fill the time, but instead of having to cram it in over the weekend or try to fit it into the middle of my workday, I can just handle it on my mid-week weekend… and everything is still open. It feels like I’ve added an extra day to the week for just me (pretty much what it is).
I don’t really like taking long week/2week vacations, because it’s that much more depressing coming back into the office after having had a “taste of freedom” for that long. It makes me resentful and it’s hard to get back into the routine.
Just started a new gig and trying to save up PTO for travel, but damn this is a tempting set up. Last gig working (4) 10-hour days with perpetual Fridays off already felt pretty damn good. Same amount of time physically in the office, but that extra free day felt so much more liberating. Really gives you time to run errands, get into shenanigans, and actually decompress before Monday kicks off.
Yup! That was another thing - since I had Wednesdays off, I scheduled my appointments and errands for that day so I didn't have to run out of the office to get stuff done during the week. It really did make me a more efficient employee.
Alas, that's too progressive for boomers to even think about. They'd rather us work 7 days a week without any breaks!
I had a 4 day-10hr shift working in insurance when I was younger and having sat / sun / wed off was amazing. It's been like 15 yrs since I had that schedule and I miss it. A lot of what you wrote is how I felt.
They moved me off that shift and I quit a few months later. Would love to go back to that schedule. Another good part was being able to do stuff during the week instead of trying to cram appointments in during the weekend or after work.
Now imagine those 4 days were only 8 hours shifts..
Yeah, that's the goal. My current job is going to try 4 10s next year, they're undecided on 4 8s for some reason
Its probably similar in other places, but where I live, between public holidays, 10 sick days a year, shutdowns over Christmas and New Years, and annual leave you will be working four day weeks and paid for five days for significantly more than half the year anyway.
I am lucky to work in a country with paid parental leave (and unpaid leave after the first year they can't refuse). I have been working 4 days a week for almost 2 years now and I'm not planning on stopping that soon.
Just wish they would pay me for the 5 days a week efficiency that I am achieving...