all work and no play
What with the impending ‘Bank Holiday’ season quickly approaching, a late-Easter and the smashing royal wedding granting us all an extra day in bed, it seems the planets have conspired to grant most people a potential glut of two, three and four-day weeks. And, to further bolster our unabashed delight, the weather promises a near-tropical experience. Wahay!
Oddly enough, the four-day week was once openly discussed and envisaged as the way forward for the working population. In the 50s Winston Churchill saw a time when accelerating technological advancement would enable us to “give the working man what he’s never had – four days’ work and three days’ fun”. Interestingly, as the then Prime Minister, I don’t think Winston considered himself to be a ‘working man’. So where did it all go wrong?
A recent survey of 4000 workers conducted by Premier Inn found that we don’t unwind, on average, until 12.38 on Saturday night (Sunday morning in fact) and by 3.55 that afternoon we’re beginning to worry about work again. 53% of us are ‘too tired’ to enjoy the break and almost half frequently check their emails as a matter of course during the weekend.
Ironically, the rapid advances in technology and ease of international communication, combined with increasing globalisation and the associated changes in work patterns, have created the perfect storm. Enabled by technology and perhaps by our need to compete globally, our working time has been steadily and increasingly stretched. The working day may start with a 6.00am conference call to the East and could feasibly finish with one to the west coast at 10.00pm. The Middle East may require us to sort something out on a Sunday, though wouldn’t dream of allowing us to have a Friday off in lieu. And that’s not to mention our modern-day innate desire to want to be seen to be busy by all and sundry.
The ease of communication is the villain of the piece. Smartphones, specifically your Blackberry, are the devil! The research found that those with Blackberry’s had 13% more ‘traffic’ and spent two and a half times as long checking their emails outside traditional working hours. Removing any complexity or barriers to communications has created a nation of ‘Crackberry addicts’ where the vibrating, flashing device stimulates our brain’s dopamine system in exactly the same manner as the flashing lights and spinning drums of the fruit machine stimulate the brain of a gambling addict.
It’s been long recognised that proper rest and recuperation is vital, not only for long-term health and happiness but also for resilience at work, efficiency, productivity and performance. The sad truth however is that the ‘working man’ is either too busy to listen, too pressured to change or too tired to care. So whilst we are obviously further than ever from enjoying a four-day week as a permanent fixture I urge you all to turn-off, unplug, chill-out and reclaim, at least what’s on offer, the promise of a two-day weekend.
Some would argue that’s nothing new and here’s a potted history of our view on shorter working:
– 890: King Alfred the Great proclaims “Eight hours’ work, eight hour’s sleep, eight hours’ play, make a just and healthy day”.
– 1496: Henry VII orders a 14-hour work day for field labourers from March to September. Ouch.
– 1815: The Foundation of the Ten Hours Movement.
– 1847: Women and children granted the 10 hour working day, with a maximum of 60 hours per week.
– 1926: US car manufacturer Henry Ford closes down his factories on both Saturday and Sunday while paying staff the same rate as for the previously longer week.
– 1953: Winston Churchill foresees the end of the Cold War heralding more leisure time for workers.
