Knackerd Nation – Lets bring in a four day working week

by admin

London, one of the most bustling and vibrant cities on the globe is now a ghost town. Since the pandemic hit in March we were largely confined to our homes except for an occasional trip to the supermarket and an hours’ worth of fresh air exercise every day.

It is now September, the schools will be returning soon yet the highstreets remain virtually empty compared to what it was like before. The government has called for offices to return to work yet businesses do not seem to be heeding their call. Something strange and for many welcome has happened, it has been a successful venture in working from home.

Beep beep beep, snooze beeep beep beep aggghhh! Rush, shower, run out the door, grab a latte at the coffee shop run down to the tube station, travel an hour barely being able to breath nestled tightly under someone’s armpit packed in like a sardine on the tube. That is the reality for most Londoners the day in day out grind up at the crack of dawn and not getting home until 7 or 8 at night dinner then bed it’s an exhausting lifestyle that takes its toll.

Then lock down….employees encouraged to work from home if they can. At first this seemed like a crazy idea but with inbuilt telephone systems, work applications set up on home laptops and virtual meeting rooms this became really rather very quickly the norm. A lot of money saved on coffees and travel, a lot of time saved to spend with family & friends and the question has now become do we really want to go back to how things were?

I would say with a capital ‘N’ a big resounding NO!

We are generally knackered in this country with a minimum of 37.5 hours at work and usually about an hour’s travel each way we spend at least 10 hours a day focused on work. Up early in the mornings and home late in the evenings we eat late throw ourselves in-front of the TV and then its time to sleep. There is little time for recreation, to see friend’s family or spouse, exercise and sensible low fat home cooked meals.

We live for the weekends for a precious catch up on sleep and some minimal time to persue  our hobby maybe hit the gym trying to stave of the pounds of our box dinners, fit in some much needed social time and end up feeling like we have had no rest at all whilst we catch up on housework that we didn’t manage to complete during the week.

For the people that have been fortunate enough to keep their jobs and have been able to work from home after the initial shock they have readapted their lives for this new schedule. Getting up a little later and finding more time in the evenings to persue their passions, get fit and spend time with friends and family.

People have started to realise that there is more to life than just work and how much they have missed on being a wage slave to a soul sucking company and spending more time with strangers than their own social tribe.

Work is important, having something to do is good for the psyche but the question is do we really need to work this much in this modern day of technology and the answer is no. Don’t we think the 5-day week is outdated and should be reviewed I certainly think so.

Happy employees= healthy employees

It is a simple equation but most illness is caused by stress so here is an idea have stress free employees and a happy motivated workforce instead.

How can we do this?

The four-day working week of course!

I don’t mean cramming the extra hours thus causing more tiredness and more stress to a human being into those four days but literally having an extra day free. Make the working week 32 hours instead of 37.5 +. Same pay, less hours = happier healthier employees who will take less time off for sickness and stress and have time to improve their physical and mental health by having an extra day.

You can find online various studies on the benefits of a four-day working week if you look, so what’s needed now is employers to take the plunge and for the Government to endorse this practice.

Employees will work much better if they are focused and healthy and achieve greater productivity.

I suggest that all people that are employees start bringing up this concept to their HR departments and suggest it in management meetings. If there are any government petitions to be signed then sign them or set one up yourself.

We don’t need to be slaving away as a nation we need to get together and put this forward.

Imagine the creativity that having an extra day to work on yourself and your personal projects would bring to your life. Imagine the extra time to be sociable and spend with friends and family. The extra time to visit places you have never been.

A 32 hour work week and flexible working come on its 2020!

Who’s with me?!

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2 comments

blockchain July 29, 2022 - 8:44 am

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RV Collision Repair Los Angeles July 31, 2022 - 1:08 am

Your style is very unique compared to other people I have read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this blog.

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