Re:4-day workweeks can boost happiness and productivity
by marvin on Sunday June 20, 2021 @12:46PM
(#27571736)
This is a deeper philosophical question than it might seem initially, and in the HN crowd the answer might be different from me than what you'd expect.
Most people here are smart, hard-working and aspire to be high performers in whatever they do. So when you have an extra day off, you're expected to use it for an ambitious side project, self-improvement, learning new technology or whatever.
I have a part of this mindset in my identity, but it's a source of stress. So after a bit of a history of anxiety and depression in my past, I've made the deliberate decision to relegate this to the part my attention that's focused on employment and earning money. I never let it enter the part of my time that I have for myself.
This means that my three days off are spent on activities I find meaningful: Family, seeing friends, reading, playing computer games, hiking/biking/working out, philosophizing, re-filling my social introvert energy. Occasionally flying airplanes in summer, skiing or snow kiting in winter. I always say yes when opportunities to do activities with friends show up, and this never turns into a stressful thing since I always have the opportunity to recharge before work.
If I feel like doing something more structured and ambitious, something creative, I'll do it. But it has to come from the heart. Generally, I don't have a lot of excess creative energy even when working 4 days a week, and I'm perfectly okay with that.
I always have a lot of excess energy for handling stuff that might otherwise get low priority: Getting enough sleep, seeing enough friends, handling any physical or mental health issues that want attention. That's a big difference.
Most people here are smart, hard-working and aspire to be high performers in whatever they do. So when you have an extra day off, you're expected to use it for an ambitious side project, self-improvement, learning new technology or whatever.
I have a part of this mindset in my identity, but it's a source of stress. So after a bit of a history of anxiety and depression in my past, I've made the deliberate decision to relegate this to the part my attention that's focused on employment and earning money. I never let it enter the part of my time that I have for myself.
This means that my three days off are spent on activities I find meaningful: Family, seeing friends, reading, playing computer games, hiking/biking/working out, philosophizing, re-filling my social introvert energy. Occasionally flying airplanes in summer, skiing or snow kiting in winter. I always say yes when opportunities to do activities with friends show up, and this never turns into a stressful thing since I always have the opportunity to recharge before work.
If I feel like doing something more structured and ambitious, something creative, I'll do it. But it has to come from the heart. Generally, I don't have a lot of excess creative energy even when working 4 days a week, and I'm perfectly okay with that.
I always have a lot of excess energy for handling stuff that might otherwise get low priority: Getting enough sleep, seeing enough friends, handling any physical or mental health issues that want attention. That's a big difference.