The story behind the Friday Projects
- I’ve been working 4-day weeks for a few years now and it’s been a great experiment – I’ve been able to finish a Masters, feel more productive at work, am on my way to being conversational in French, I’ve had more time to read, to rest, etc. etc.! I calculated that from age 30 an extra day ‘back’ per week equates to 4 years until retirement…
- The world is a fascinating place. While our generation has witnessed the opening up of the world: travel, entertainment, the internet it seems like most have been encouraged to specialise, at least to some degree, and the majority end up working 5-days a week doing something quite particular. That particular thing might be interesting and wortwhile, but there’s a whole world out there. I’ve said to a few people even if I had a dream job, something like ‘swimming with dolphins’ 5 days would still be too much! Too many blow holes!
- It’s lead me to question some assumptions – why do most of us work 5 days a week? Is at an economic reality? Surely not, there are plenty of experiments around the world like in Holland where 4 days weeks are quite common. Taking a slightly less cynical David Graeber ‘Bullshit jobs’ line – most of us in office jobs know that people can work smarter and less hours, that 5 days is like a marathon and, as knowledge workers, straight spells of 7-8 hours is so badly thought out from a productivitiy standpoint that it almost feels like a joke. We’ve all heard of experiments at this or that company and seen its mention in left-leaning political manifestos. It’s perhaps not possible for some people, they need a full 5 day income to support a family, to buy some fancy cutlery, to go to a nice island somewhere on holiday – whatever it might be. How much of this is an excuse? Is there something deeper at play for some? Is there some kind of industrial revolution or puritanical work ethic at play that we glimpse in people’s comments ‘Part-timer’ etc.? Do people know what to do with their ‘own’ time? Perhaps the structure, the routine hides a deep void, an uncertainty about how to ‘spend’ our time.
What is the Friday Projects?
- A practical way of personally trying to live a better, more fulfilled life – I have my Fridays off (for the time being) and without overly instrumentalising time – how can I make the most of this opportunity? If I drill down into what really motivates me and put this into practice life could feel more fulfilling.
- A business based on a programme of content to share ideas and build a passive income stream – why not share the journey? The methods and the content could be valuable to others and provide some upside for me. Their could be an ecosystem of content and even a book!
- A movement to inspire people to take their time back (e.g. 4 day week) – the ethical (or narcissistic) component! I do really believe that we spend too much time doing singular activities and that people’s lives and the world could be richer through variety and greater freedom. Most have come from serfdom / slavery / wage labour and I don’t equate them to one another, but shouldn’t we strive for more freedom? More time, without the iron or velvet shackles of our employers is a good thing, no?