On the 5️⃣ day workweek

even though my first week back in the saddle of Full Time tech work was a mere 4 days….

by Friday afternoon I was 100% draiiiinnnneeeddddd of my lifeforce

so much so husbs found me knocked out dead asleep on the couch at ~5:30pm

so sweet is siren call of retail and/or part-time work and/or completely draining my "fuck you” fund 🖕🖕🖕 to avoid an actual full 5 day work week as a knowledge worker in tech

part of this was hopping back on meds for a full 4d in a row. stimulants prescribed for ADHD create a crash kind of like a hangover. A crash that can turn me into a sleepy crabapple with a short fuse. Real cute right?

unfortunately while medication gives it also takes, since as we know nothing in life comes without a tradeoff.

for me the 8+ hour workday, 5 day workweek feels like a rip off of the most valuable commodity I have, time where I have a normal amount of ~executive function~ which as it turns out is pretty important for biznass skills like responding to emails aaaand human skills like remembering to move clothes from the washer → dryer or even being able to recognize if I am hungry or thirsty

at the end of my first week, despite lovely teammates, a warm welcome back and 0 oncall 📟 (again I cannot stress enough 0 oncall is a big part of addressing my burnout) I am even more on team #4dayworkweek (I’m actually on team #0dayworkweek but you know, baby steps)

every company I work for, every single HR survey in the open text box comment section I advocate for a 4 day work week and link to the successful experiments Microsoft, Scotland, Spain, Iceland, New Zealand, and more have done.

• https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-does-the-four-day-workweek-mean-for-the-future-of-work/#:~:text=Advocates%20have%20long%20suggested%20that,'%20well%2Dbeing%20and%20productivity

  • When asked how they would spend their extra day off, meeting up with family was the most popular activity across all generations (66%)

  • 25% said they would use the time to volunteer

• 92% of people support it and say it would improve their mental health and productivity, according to a January Qualtrics survey of 1,021 people

PS just finished Phoebe Robinson’s Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes: Essays A+ read, so funny, relatable, a great recap/reflection on her pandemic life experiences. next up is some Octavia Butler 💟 💟 💟

PPS was recently reminded of the spectacular scandal of Juicero, one of my personal faves

xoxo,

paigerduty