Is it time to cancel the weekend? 7 reasons it's time to rethink the concept of a week

In a recent LinkedIn poll , I asked how many hours we would work per day in 2032. While the poll was purely out of curiosity and not to be considered seriously, I received a comment I couldn't get out of my head:

“By 2032 I think we will be working a rotating 4 day week. - 4 days on, 4 days off - so business can function 7 days week with improved efficiency, with half the workforce on holiday every day of the week.” - Richard Wade

The concept of a rolling week is a great idea; however, when I started asking people what days they would want to work, the answer was always the same - Monday to Friday so I could have the weekend off. The answer remained the same when I said you only have to work 4 days, and you could choose any 4 days across all 7. My curiosity then led me down the rabbit hole of the history of weekdays vs weekends, which ultimately led me to conclude it's time to cancel the weekend.?

Before you dismiss the idea, let me explain the seven reasons I think it’s time we rethink our current concept of the week.?

1. The first 48-hour weekend

Have you ever thought about how the weekend came to be? Like most Western traditions, it turns out beer was responsible. Sunday was considered the day of leisure from the early 19th century, with the first recorded use of the word ‘weekend’ occurring in 1879. Whilst Sunday was the ‘day of rest’, Britons who were not religious would “drink, gamble and enjoy themselves so much that the phenomenon of “Saint Monday”, in which workers would skip work to recover from Sunday’s gallivanting, emerged.” (The Atlantic )

In response, factory owners exchanged guaranteed attendance at work on Monday with the compromise of a half-day on Saturday.

The first 5-day week was implemented in an American factory in 1908. The reason, which might be unexpected for some, was to accommodate Jewish workers who observed the Sabbath on Saturday. In Australia, in 1941, a short working week was five and a half days, and it wasn’t until 1948 that we implemented a 40-hour work week, which was subsequently reduced to 38 hours in 1983.?

The 48-hour weekend we still know today took 50 years to gain widespread adoption.?(BBC )

Side note: If you’re interested in a more detailed history lesson regarding the changing way of work since this time, read this article , where I explain in detail the technological changes which have occurred, alongside our ongoing commitment to a 40-hour work week.?

2. Individual Peak Performance Variability

Science, Psychology and Philosophy have repeatedly taught us there is no one size fits all approach to when individuals are at their cognitive peak. Our biological rhythms, including diurnal, circadian, ultradian, infradian/circalunar and circannual, determine our natural energy peaks. These vary for each individual, meaning a blanket rule about when we should be working is bound to fail.?

We also can’t talk about our biological rhythms without mentioning the concept of chronotypes . Chronotype refers to “a person's natural inclination with regard to the times of day when they prefer to sleep or when they are most alert or energetic.” Research has found a genetic basis for chronotypes, meaning it's difficult (if not impossible) for us to change these.?

The type of work we now predominately do has also significantly evolved, meaning the majority of people are no longer working long hours in physically demanding roles on a factory floor. Instead, we are expected to perform more cognitively intensive tasks which require a different type of focus and attention. To put this importance in perspective, the most popular chronotype quiz, developed by Dr. Michael Breus identified 55% of the population is considered a ‘Bear’ Chronotype. For this majority, the 9-5 works perfectly for their biological peak. This means for the rest of us; we are not working at our cognitive peak!?

Having recently started working for myself, I’ve struggled to identify when my peak times for work are because my entire career has been structured around the 9-5 life. The problem with this is that I know I'm not my most creative, productive or cognitively energised during these hours. While attempting to understand how others have tackled this problem throughout history, I discovered this insightful diagram.?

As you can see, the greatest minds in history didn't have a consistent approach to working, nor did they stick to a rigid 9-5 schedule. Instead, they learnt when they were at their mental peak and targeted that time to engage in deep work. This is why we remember their names.?

Reflecting on my own work patterns, I’ve noticed I'm most productive and able to engage in better deep work on Sunday mornings. I only recently understood why - the world outside is quiet. As an introvert, I'm easily overstimulated by the loud world around me. On Sunday, everything stops - there are fewer cars on the road, no construction and as long as I avoid the ‘fun’ places, I can always find a nice, quiet spot to think and create. Yet none of my previous employers were able to take advantage of this cognitive peak because I wasn’t paid to work on Sunday. I’m sure if I’d asked to switch one of my days during the week, my request would've been met with a blank expression, but it never occurred to me to ask.?

The irony of our continued dedication to this 9-5 life is that organisations are missing out on the real economic benefits of allowing staff to structure their work so it aligns with their own biological rhythms. Recognising and encouraging cognitive diversity will drive innovation, creative potential and result in optimal performance across the entire organisation.?

3. Enhancing Inclusivity

Inclusivity is not a tick-the-box exercise. It's a crucial factor needed to drive corporate profitability (plus, it's the right thing to do…). As mentioned previously, we ended up with the weekend as Saturday and Sunday to accommodate the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday. What I omitted was that this decision was made because the Catholic majority were angry that Jewish employees were working on Sundays so they could continue to observe the Sabbath. Inclusivity is why we have a 2-day weekend.?

A few years ago, I attended a panel session on mental health , and something has always stuck with me - we need to stop blaming the individual and instead ask:

What about the underlying system is making it difficult for the individual to participate fully??

The answer in the context of work is simple. We are working in a system of work that was developed centuries ago, at a time when women, minorities and people with disability were excluded from work. Men could easily work long hours in physically demanding roles because they knew they had a wife at home looking after the household and the children. Shockingly [read with plenty of sarcasm], women, minorities, and people with disability are now actively participating in the workforce.

This means our way of working, which was developed for one very specific type of worker in a very specific environment, is no longer relevant. Even for men, their lives have changed. Their wives now have careers of their own, so household and child-rearing tasks are shared.?I know this may seem obvious, yet there seem to be more and more articles highlighting this fact, so I wanted to mention it.

Allowing individuals who are not men into the workplace also meant accommodations were required. It’s the reason we have legal protections for these groups to prevent discrimination in the workplace.?Instead of relying on legal protections, we can eliminate the long-term need for such protections by rethinking the whole underlying system. We all benefit from accommodations specifically created to make the world more accessible for these groups, so instead of thinking of inclusion as an inconvenience, reframe it as an opportunity to make your experience at work better (or for the collective good).

Allowing flexibility in how and when we work also allows us to tap into a wider talent pool, which includes those who were previously excluded from the current ways of working. Allowing anyone who wants to work the ability to work is good for everyone. For the individual, it allows them to contribute meaningfully to society; for teams, it creates environments where diverse ideas flourish, leading to more innovative solutions and for organisations, it drives long-term corporate profitability.?

Ultimately though, creating an inclusive workplace is essential to fostering a positive work culture as it actively promotes psychological safety, and individuals want to come to work each day.?

4. Tech-led Productivity

Technology has drastically changed how we work from a productivity perspective; however, with each technological advancement, we've failed to consider how we could evolve the way we work to accommodate these advancements. As I mentioned in my article on the history of the ballpoint pen , the first and second industrial revolutions triggered conversations about how to change the way we worked to accommodate the innovations of the time. Yet we seem to have forgotten this history lesson with the advent of computers in the 1960s.?

Humans are not machines. It’s strange to write this in 2023, yet I believe it needs to be said because we seem to have forgotten this lesson. In ancient times, the tools we used shaped our lives. Yet instead of taking a moment to reflect on what new technology allows us to do differently so we can live a more harmonious life, we've chosen to overcomplicate our lives to the point of chaos.?

I recently learnt there’s a term for this - Skeuomorphism . ChatGPT is a fantastic example of this in action. Can you remember the first prompt you gave? I’m sure it was some version of something you would usually Google, right? This is because our natural instinct is to use new technology in the ways we already know how. It's this habit which distinguishes us from our ancestors. With each new invention, their first thought was, how can this make my life easier? After creating the first wheelbarrow, they noticed the wheel could also be used to transport humans (aka the carriage).?For us, our first thought is, how can this increase human productivity, so we can work and earn more?

In 1930, when John Maynard Keynes predicted we’d be working 15 hours per week by 2030, evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley said :?

"The human being can consume so much and no more. When we reach the point when the world produces all the goods that it needs in two days, as it inevitably will, we must curtail our production of goods and turn our attention to the great problem of what to do with our new leisure."

My first thought on reading this was, when will we reach this point? We continue to consume and consume, producing more goods than we could possibly need. However, I think we might be starting to see the direct impact of this approach, and you may not have noticed it…?

Have you seen those videos of robots completing traditionally human tasks and collapsing after hours of work? This is happening because we’re expecting robots to behave like humans. The irony is what we’re actually learning is that our way of working is unsustainable, even for robots. Humans (and perhaps physical robots...) require rest, connection and meaningful work.

We are at a point in history where our technological tools can be used to simplify and streamline our lives. Instead, we let them dictate our lives. This is why we joke about robots taking over the world - we think of technology controlling us instead of us controlling technology.?

5. Reducing Burnout

As I mentioned in my WGA article , The World Health Organisation, the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) highlights that:

“Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

There’s a reason for this. You can’t think of burnout as an individual problem - it’s a systemic one. It’s no coincidence that the rates of increased productivity and mention of burnout in research journals are almost directly identical - the more productive we become, the harder we work and the more burnt out we are.?

Just as our current ways of working are linked to the 19th century, so too are our productivity measures. Historically measuring productivity by the number of widgets made was perfectly logical. Working on a factory floor, your job was to produce X number of widgets per day. This metric was based on the following mathematical equation:?

[# units produced or sales] / [# hours worked] = [productivity]

Knowledge work can’t be measured in widgets, yet it still is. An accurate measure of productivity for how we now work needs to factor in the following:?

• the task being completed: we are naturally faster at tasks we know how to do versus tasks that are new;
• how we are working: intentional, uninterrupted deep work requires far less time than shallow work or interrupted deep work (read Deep Work * by Cal Newport to learn more)
• where we are working: 8 hours in an office is not the same as 8 hours at home (or in a quiet environment without interruption).

Our failure to take any of these factors into consideration is what has always frustrated me most about our ongoing dedication to an 8-hour day. As someone who has always utilised uninterrupted periods of deep work to complete my cognitively intensive work, I know how little time is actually needed to deliver meaningful outcomes. It wasn’t until working from home full time, though, that I realised the significant impact no distractions could have on our susceptibility to burnout.??

Like most people in March/April 2020, I was completing work as if I were in the office. Very quickly, I realised how exhausting it was attempting to replicate the traditional office day at home. Living alone, I could go to the bathroom, fill up my water or get coffee without talking to anyone. I started to reflect on the amount of time I would unintentionally engage with others during a typical office workday and realised those incidental interactions quickly add up. While it might feel like 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there, research has found on an average office day; we only spend two hours and 53 minutes being productive.

As a phenomenon we created, we have the power to reduce burnout. Learning when I’m naturally at my cognitive peak and working with that natural rhythm has shown me how easy it is to reduce burnout. By my personal definition of productivity, my energy levels have improved, my thinking is even more creative, and my outcomes have significantly increased. From an organisational perspective, research has also shown allowing this flexibility not only reduces burnout but increases retention, the ability to attract high-quality talent and increase profits.

Imagine if everyone was given this opportunity…?

6. Economic Benefits of Reduced Turnover

Over the last few years, I’ve spoken to several high-level executives, and the number one question I get asked is, how do we improve employee retention? You decide the type of person you want to attract and then design an organisation they want to work at. Sounds simple, right??

Theoretically, this is easy, yet the current system is so ingrained in how we work it’s difficult to execute. Typically executives are looking for high-performing individuals who’ll help drive profits and achieve strategic objectives.?

Publicly you can say whatever you like to attract this type of talent. Yet if you misrepresent the reality, they will quickly identify the true culture within your organisation and leave. While you might be thinking that’s fine, we don’t want people like that working here; this answer fails to consider the financial implications of this mindset.

Based on a 2022 study of 1,500 human resource professionals, the average cost to hire one candidate is $23,860. Factoring in training and the 3 - 6 months it takes for someone to get settled into a role and understand how the organisation works, you’re talking about a significant financial investment. It’s harder to quantify the financial impact of high turnover due to the direct and indirect economic costs, yet when you do, you realise how important it is to attract and retain the right talent.??

Reducing turnover requires a marathon mindset. You want to attract the right talent and have them stay long-term. Retaining talent leads to consistent organisational growth as you're able to retain institutional knowledge and create internal advocates for your organisation's values and vision. It also creates stability within the organisation, which benefits both the organisation and the individual. For the individual, stability in employment can lead to better mental and physical health, whilst for organisations, stability in teams enhances the learning environment, allowing for cumulative growth in knowledge and innovation. Building a culture of flexibility with how and when individuals work and encouraging them to design work aligned with their natural rhythm is how you increase retention.?

7. Efficient Coordination and Aligned Outcomes

If you’ve made it this far, firstly, thank you, and secondly, I know you’re probably thinking how naive I am to think we can:?

1. dismantle the existing underlying systems of work; and?
2. design a model of work underpinned by individuality and still run a business.?

In response to one, I say our ancestors created the current underlying systems of work, which means we have the power to create new ones. It won’t be easy (the two-day weekend took 50 years to see widespread adoption), but we can do it. My response to point two is a little harder to answer, but the short answer is with purposeful action, strategic coordination and a shared purpose, it's entirely possible to design a new model of work.?

The long answer, and the final reason I think it’s time we cancel the weekend, is that allowing individual flexibility in how and when we work doesn't mean we never work together. It means we think more meaningfully about how we interact with each other and how we most effectively use the time we are together.?

We do this by understanding the ‘why’ behind our tasks by defining the desired outcomes and then aligning processes to achieve them. In the beginning, this won’t be easy, but the rewards are worth it.?

In my vision of the future of work, here’s how I see this approach working.?

Step 1: Define your shared values, purpose and objectives

As an organisation, you and your employees (at all levels) define your shared values, purpose and objectives. This clarity creates shared goals, building mutual trust, clarity of purpose and shared ownership. In an ideal world, this also means reviewing all job descriptions and processes to eliminate the busywork, focusing on clearly defined outcomes for each role and ensuring each individual is in a role aligned with their strengths.?

Step 2: Use natural cognitive peaks for uninterrupted deep work

As a professional development exercise, have each individual identify when their natural cognitive peaks occur (some organisations who may be able to help you with this include The Energy Project and Inventium ). Then, we all use our natural cognitive peaks to complete our uninterrupted deep work.

The purpose of deep work is to eliminate all distractions and focus on the one task in front of you (e.g. writing this article). By its very definition, you don’t need to be connected to email, chat or in meetings. Your sole purpose is to complete the one very specific task you've set for yourself. This means it can literally occur at any time of the day or night, on any day of the week. Some companies, including eBay , have already implemented company-wide meeting-free times to allow individuals to focus on their deep work.?This demonstrates it can be done.

Step 3: Identify ‘core hours’ when everyone must be available

These ‘core hours’ are used for specific tasks which require engagement with others - including meetings (with clearly defined agendas and outcomes), brainstorming and ideation sessions and purposeful activities aligned with your shared organisational goals. The key here is having clarity around your shared goals because people are willing to synchronise their goals even when they’re not synchronised in their schedules.?

The organisation that inspired the concept of ‘core hours’ for me began trialling a new work schedule, outlined in the diagram below:?

As you can see, every two weeks, each team got a four-day weekend, and every week teams were together on Tuesday - Thursday. This approach also allowed extended opening hours (each workday was 10 hours), leading to better communication with customers across timezones, higher productivity and reduced sick days.?

What I want you to focus on in this approach is how different it is from our current way of working. There are elements I don’t like about this approach (obviously the strict Monday - Friday and 10-hour days), but it’s evidence flexibility can work with the right coordination and goal alignment. Imagine how you could take this approach and improve on it - for example, you could add extra teams to extend your opening hours to accommodate more flexibility for your customers (and employees).?

Will you join my mission to cancel the weekend??

I know you’re probably sick of reading about cancelling the weekend, but the reason I’ve phrased it like this is that our current divide between the workday and weekend limits our ability to think differently about how we work. If you know anyone in hospitality, you’ll know Monday and Tuesday are affectionately called the ‘hospo weekend’ (remind anyone else of ‘Saint Monday’?). Or if you've been to an Islamic country, you’ll know the weekend occurs on Friday and Saturday.?

It’s hard for us to think differently about something we've always assumed was unchangeable, but in reality, humans created the concept of a weekend, so humans can also change it. Likewise, humans created the current systems of work, so humans can change the way we work.?

As we ask how technology like AI is shaping our future, I'd like us to flip the question and instead ask how are we, as humans, shaping our future? Ultimately we're in control, which means we can choose to go back to a world where the tools we use help shape our lives so we can live a simpler life.?

* As an Amazon Associate, I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase.