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The one-day work week – by Michael Estrin

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Three-day weekends are superb, however you pay the worth the next week. For one factor, Tuesday seems like Monday, Wednesday seems like Tuesday, and by the point you get to Thursday, the week seems like mush. Additionally, the abridged week means longer work days as a result of, effectively, you continue to need to get shit finished (GSD).

On Tuesday morning, I used to be scrambling to GSD, after I heard a trash truck come thundering down our road. Is smart, I believed at first, the trash man additionally must GSD. However then I believed, what’s he doing right here on a Monday? Trash day is Tuesday.

I ran to the window. All of our neighbors had their trash cans out for pick-up. Had I missed one thing?

“Alexa, what day is it?”

I felt foolish asking that query, however in occasions like this I recognize the little spies Christina has positioned round the home. Certain, they harvest our information and promote it to the very best bidder, however they don’t choose you for asking questions like, what day is it?

“It’s Tuesday February 20,” Alexa stated. Then she requested if I needed to know the place I may discover the closest donut store, however I used to be already out the door and headed for the spot the place we retailer our trash cans.

It was raining—one thing about an “atmospheric river” parked over Los Angeles—so I acquired soaked as I lugged the trash cans to the curb. That was the unhealthy information. The excellent news was that I had managed to GSD in time. Trash day, which is Tuesday, even when it feels like a Monday, had been saved!

After my first yr of regulation college, I had a depressing summer time job that paid remarkably effectively. The hours have been lengthy, which was high-quality, however the work was boring. Every day, I’d comb via quarterly reviews attempting to know how multinational companies valued their mental property. Like I stated, boring. In the future blended into the subsequent, and on a regular basis felt like Groundhog Day, besides the punchy dialogue had been changed by legalese, and the story actually went nowhere.

In the future that summer time, America celebrated its birthday. I used to be completely happy for America. I drank a beer, ate a cupcake, and watched the fireworks. I additionally acquired the break day as a result of the workplace was closed. A 3-day weekend!

The week following America’s birthday was a brief week, simply 4 days. However by the tip of the week, I observed one thing odd. In solely 4 days, my coworkers and I had churned via the identical variety of quarterly reviews as a traditional five-day week. Naturally, I requested my boss if we may shift to a four-day work week. We’d proceed to GSD on the similar fee, I argued, so why not save everybody from a case of the Mondays?

“Don’t be ridiculous, Estrin.”

I wasn’t being ridiculous, I protested, I used to be being severe. We weren’t being paid to indicate our faces on the workplace, we have been being paid to GSD.

“Truly, a four-day work week is bullshit.”

That remark got here from Eric, my colleague within the quarterly report mines. I felt betrayed. Did Eric, the man who all the time got here in late and requested to go away early, actually wish to work a full week?

“When you concentrate on it, Friday is all the time a complete loss as a result of everybody is considering the weekend,” Eric advised our boss. “And Monday is a shit present as a result of everyone seems to be recovering from the weekend.”

“Let me get this straight,” our boss started, “Estrin desires a four-day work week, however that received’t fly, so that you’re counter-offer is a three-day work week?”

“No,” Eric stated. “Tuesday can also be tough as a result of I am going laborious on the weekends, and I can’t totally get better on Monday. Thursday is okay, however it’s so near Friday that the weekend anticipation bleeds over, so it’s laborious to get stuff finished on Thursday too.”

“However Wednesday is nice?” our boss requested.

“Wednesday is nice,” Eric stated. “Hump day is crunch day.”

There it was: the one-day work week, also called the six-day weekend. May we make it occur? May we stay the dream?

In principle, sure. All we needed to do was proceed to GSD.

However did it truly occur?

I’m not saying that sharing this put up will change the world, however should you don’t share it, there’s no manner we’ll ever see a one-day work week. So share it, please!

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True story! I’m an award-winning journalist (B2B & B2C, print & digital), an op-ed ghostwriter who has helped tons of of start-ups inform their tales, and a flexible copywriter who kicks ass and triple-checks the spelling of names. My bona fides are on LinkedIn. I lately launched Thought Companion to speak extra about how corporations and people can use thought management to make themselves heard over the noise. Possibly my providers are what you’ve been searching for, or perhaps there’s one thing else I might help with, akin to:

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If it’s authorized and if it falls below the heading of writing / storytelling, I might help. E-mail me at michael.j.estrin@gmail.com.

The e book variations of my books are priced between 99 cents and $2.99, so should you don’t have the finances for a State of affairs Regular subscription, shopping for an e book is an effective way to help my work. Bonus: you’ll chortle your butt off!

You realize the drill. I’ve acquired questions, you’ve acquired solutions.

  1. Are you staff one-day work week, or are you a part of the issue? Confess!

  2. Think about that the six-day weekend is a factor. What would your life appear like? Go massive!

  3. Again within the Nineteen Thirties, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that advances in expertise would make us so productive that very quickly a 15-hour work week could be regular. That was earlier than the digital revolution and the AI revolution. What the hell occurred?

  4. How do you deal with a case of the Mondays? Asking for me.

  5. Atmospheric rivers are bullshit, proper?

Depart a remark

Mortimer has a case of the Mondays. He says the treatment is an efficient donut.

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