The Four-Day Work Week? Try the Four-Hour Work Week
As technology begins to accelerate, there seems to be one thing that can’t seem to catch up: attitudes. Our reality is still mired in 18th and 19th century thought patterns.
In fact, our schedule is not much different from the average Joe or Jane heading to work in the mid-20th century. As author of the Four-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, says: for whatever reason, people have decided to shuffle papers from 9 to 5.
(This is a great book, by the way, I’ll probably have more to say about it in future posts.)
This is despite the fact that technology and the internet makes most clock-watching, commuting jobs irrelevant. There’s probably nothing you’re doing at your current occupation that you couldn’t do somewhere, some when, and with some people you like better.
So why do we drag our sorry selves into the office five days a week, eight-or-nine-or-ten-or more hours each day? My guess is that the Office Space is nothing more than an extension of high school and, in most cases, middle school. (Probably elementary school for some of you, too.) It’s a place to socialize. Even the hierarchical structure of work (CEO-Directors-Managers-Supervisors) mimics the structure of schools (Superintendent, Principals, Teachers, Teacher’s pets) right?
Over time, I expect this to change. The latest rumblings of a four-day work week to help save gas might have unexpected consequences. It might just be the final straw for this out-moded system. Maybe the four-hour work week isn’t too far off.
is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
