By Kathy Mostardi
Published October 1995
Lacking energy and feeling burnt out in general, I took a leap one year ago and reduced my employment to a four day work week. Now I feel that I have gotten my life back.
Previous to this decision, I had been employed on a full time basis in the social services for ten years. While my work with clients has been fulfilling, the negative economic climate of the past few years has been difficult. Increased demands due to staff cuts, larger caseloads and a multitude of demands to manage have taken a toll. I found myself becoming increasingly drained as each day of the week progressed. It was difficult to find enough time and personal energy for my job much less my personal life: household tasks, the garden, time for friends, my partner, and personal solitude. I began to feel that I needed to make some permanent changes in my lifestyle – to find a way to “regain” my life and control over it.
Another experience added to my desire for less formal work in my life. Three years ago I took an eight month leave of absence from my job, a kind of sabbatical. My leave of absence gave me a first time experience, since childhood, of having long stretches of unstructured time on my hands. Although difficult at first to adjust to, it was wonderful to find myself with the luxury of living in the moment, rather than always planning, one step ahead of myself. Time seemed to slow down when I didn’t plan every moment of it, and even household tasks became pleasurable when not done under pressure. I came to experience myself in a more relaxed, content mode and it was hard to conceive of returning to my former, frequently harried lifestyle.
So for the past several years I have considered making some permanent changes in my employment. My partner and I discussed the feasibility of living with less income and the pros and cons of a reduced work week. We felt that this decision would allow more relaxed time for ourselves and less pressure around household responsibilities. In addition I hoped to pursue and nurture some long neglected artistic skills. Fortunately my employer was very open to the idea of a reduced work week, and saw my request as benefiting both parties.
I am currently working a four day work week, Tuesday through Friday. I feel as if my life is my own once again. I experience myself differently as I go through each week, having more energy now for myself, and others, and my job. My week is now divided so that I spend almost as much time at home as I do at my job. The weekend no longer feels like two quick days squeezed in between week after week of work, but rather a different place in my life and a different way of being, both equally important. Having Mondays off, I begin my week giving time to my family and self-first.
Ironically, I now feel that I have more energy to give my job when I am there, since I have truly taken time to become rejuvenated.
It is hard to imagine working full time again, though this is clearly the norm in our society. It is even more difficult to imagine how many families manage, with both parents employed full time and children to care for as well. It is my belief, reinforced by personal experience, that the costs of fulltime work on family and personal wellbeing can be high — and that much is gained in working less.
Kathy is a social worker employed in K-W, who has been helping out at The Working Centre.
