Cut the country some slack and introduce gardening leave

[Aurora]

The Guardian - 02/04/12

Downtime would allow overburdened oil and food systems to function better while addressing broader economic and social problems.

Article continues ...

When Utah put its workforce onto a four-day week in 2008 in response to the recession, it saved millions, saw reduced absenteeism, healthier, happier workers and cut its carbon emissions by about 14%.

We could call them National Transition Days.

So, instead of turning our garages or cupboards into petrol bombs, lets hear some good advice from government, the introduction of gardening leave for the nation (you wouldn't just have to grow food - walk, talk, fix a solar panel, take your choice).

The working week has reduced beyond recognition in the last 200 years, lets just take it to the next logical step.

Sounds like a great plan to me.

[woodburner]

+1

[biffvernon]

My preference is for the abolition of Tuesdays. You get a six day week, four days at work an two off the weekend. Instead of 52 weeks in the year you get 61.

Most importantly that means 61 weekends - more opportunities for parties.

[ujoni08]

Most importantly that means 61 weekends - more opportunities for parties

Like it

[madibe]

[SleeperService]

I've taken things a bit further with one long weekend a year. 365.25 days on average

[UndercoverElephant]

The Guardian - 02/04/12

Downtime would allow overburdened oil and food systems to function better while addressing broader economic and social problems.

Article continues ...

When Utah put its workforce onto a four-day week in 2008 in response to the recession, it saved millions, saw reduced absenteeism, healthier, happier workers and cut its carbon emissions by about 14%.

We could call them National Transition Days.

So, instead of turning our garages or cupboards into petrol bombs, lets hear some good advice from government, the introduction of gardening leave for the nation (you wouldn't just have to grow food - walk, talk, fix a solar panel, take your choice).

The working week has reduced beyond recognition in the last 200 years, lets just take it to the next logical step.

Sounds like a great plan to me.

It is completely logical. There are two arguments against it.

(1) It increases "human resources" overheads, because you need more stuff per unit of work.

(2) Everybody earns less money.

The positives are so numerous I can't be bothered to list them. I have no idea whether it is ever going to happen though.

[the_lyniezian]

My preference is for the abolition of Tuesdays. You get a six day week, four days at work an two off the weekend. Instead of 52 weeks in the year you get 61.

Most importantly that means 61 weekends - more opportunities for parties.

As a Christian I'm rather too attached to the importance of the seven-day week.

But at the same time when it says "six days shall you work, but on the seventh day shall you rest"- what does it mean by work? A big hint: it was preached to a bunch of nomadic herdsmen who later settled dow n and became agrarians. It probably isn't mostly talking about paid emploment. I suspect gardening, and all the other things people never quite get round to doing by being "too busy" (sadly in my case, as the Devil makes work for idle hands ), might well include them.

Just my thoughts, anyway.

[Aurora]

"six days shall you work, but on the seventh day shall you rest"

Makes the bible sound like the first corporate handbook.

[biffvernon]

Seven, like forty, was, you will recall from serious study of biblical literature, not a real number. Seven was used for 'quite a few' and forty meant 'quite a lot'.

I'm not proposing the abolition of Sunday or even of the Sabbath, just Tuesday, which honours some rather obscure Germanic god, with the French Mardi named after the Roman god Mars.

Fear not, this is not an attack on Christianity - just a scheme to get us to work less and play more.

[UndercoverElephant]

My preference is for the abolition of Tuesdays. You get a six day week, four days at work an two off the weekend. Instead of 52 weeks in the year you get 61.

Most importantly that means 61 weekends - more opportunities for parties.

As a Christian I'm rather too attached to the importance of the seven-day week.

God doesn't care how many days we work. You know that, don't you?

What sort of petty-minded God would be bothered about such things when there's so much more important things to be bothered about?

[biffvernon]

Monday, Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Moon, Tiu, Woden, Thor, Freia, Saturn, Sun... the week has never been a Christian thing.

Soon be Easter

O.E. Easterdæg, from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and spring, probably originally of sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox

[ceti331]

My preference is for the abolition of Tuesdays. You get a six day week, four days at work an two off the weekend. Instead of 52 weeks in the year you get 61.

Most importantly that means 61 weekends - more opportunities for parties.

wednesdays as a mid-week break is better IMO.
2 days on 1 day off 2 days on 2 days off.
alternate complimentary activities like desk work and fitness regime, one is rest from the other.

[emordnilap]

I work Tuesday to Friday in a mainstream job.

The three day weekend is brilliant. Even with a modest lie-in, Monday has become the most productive day, unless I decide otherwise.

[the_lyniezian]

God doesn't care how many days we work. You know that, don't you?

What sort of petty-minded God would be bothered about such things when there's so much more important things to be bothered about?

Well maybe your god doesn't. Mine does.

I think it's only reasonable that God should care about even the smallest of things, and I think it's fair to say there should be something to stop people from working so hard (and in the case of the ancient Israelites, they probably had to to survive) that they wear themselves out.

Of course Christians believe that we are not under the Law anymore (or at least Christians, and it's doubtful Gentiles ever were) so it's not set in stone, but that it was included in the creation narrative gives us some hints that a seven-day week a perfectly natural arrangement. I've heard suggestions (albeit from the likes of my pastor) that other arrangements don't work, though don't quote me on that.

You could also say that, in a purely practical sense, that with modern technology and so on we don't need to work anywhere need as hard as we do- we are not exactly living a hand-to-mouth subsistence lifestyle. So we don't need to work six days, though what would be the point of messing about with how many days there are in the week, anyway?