should the work week be shortened?

Should the work week be shortened?

Do you like your current work/ school schedule? Is Monday truly the best day to start work? Currently, in America, we use the 5-day work week. We start work/ school on Monday, work till Friday, and have the weekend off. First, this allows you to have more time off to focus on catching up on work. Second, you have an extra day to relax and prepare for the work week. Third, you would only work 1-2 more hours which can be used for meetings/ training. I believe that there should be a 4-day work week instead of a 5-day work week.

First, a 4-day work week allows you to have more time off to focus on things that are important to you. According to bamboohr.com, “The added flexibility and work-life balance of a four-day workweek are by far the most important benefits for employees. Many have struggled with their mental health and a complete blurring of home and work life during the pandemic. In a 2021 survey, 79 percent of remote employees said they felt burned out monthly, and more than half said they felt burned out weekly.”I believe this is true because we all have issues that we have to take care of at home. With only 2 days a week to do this, it feels rushed and we should take more time for ourselves and our families. If this was followed more employees and students could have time to focus on their mental and physical health. This would lessen the burned-out effect and give us all a chance to focus on what might be more important at the time.

Next, you can focus more when you are at work with fewer personal distractions. According to getclockwise.com, “To put it simply, it seems that when employees have more free time to take care of personal matters, they’re able to focus more at work (rather than spend time thinking about the personal matters they aren’t able to get to). It’s a win-win for employers and employees”. I believe this is true because, with an extra day off to tend to personal matters, we can give employees or students more time to focus on work. If this was followed the work week would be more productive and fewer distractions would come in the way

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Finally, with a 4-day work week, you would only work 1-2 more hours per day and it would be more focused. According to velocitygobal.com, “Americans waste about two hours of every eight-hour workday. The two biggest time wasters are surfing the internet and chatting with coworkers. When moving to a four-day workweek, employees are more engaged during the workday and less likely to waste time at work.” I believe this is true because knowing we only have 4 days to get the work done and our days wouldn’t be that much longer than usual, you can get more done. If this was followed people wouldn’t waste their time at work knowing they’ll have “extra days”

In conclusion, it’s still important to know that the work week and how much we have to work vs relax is still up for debate. I still believe that we should move to a 4-day work week instead of our current 5-day system. It allows you to have more time off to focus on things that are important to you. We can focus more when we are at work with fewer personal distractions. Lastly, we would only work 1-2 more hours per day and it would be more focused on the work at hand. Without trying something different, we will continue to utilize the same system which does not benefit all. Trying something different may have to outlast potential for all.