The 30 Hour Work Week

I had a coworker recently tell me that it's important that he likes the people he works with because he sees them more than his own family. I never thought to quantify and compare the hours I spent between work and home, but he was right. Last week I spent 54 hours at work and a mere 15 hours that week with my kids. Throw in the weekend and other activities, and the kids received 24 hours a week of my time and attention. Unbalanced? Sure it is.

Do we really need to work such long hours? Even a 40 hour work week seems like a light week the same way the $2.98 for a gallon of gas feels like a bargain. We have gradually conditioned ourselves to work longer days at the expense of living our lives with the ones we love. You wonder what would change if we could spend an additional 5, 10, 15 hours a week more with our families? Would our kids be better behaved? Would marriages become stronger and last longer?

This got me to thinking about the benefits of working less. Would employers benefit by offering employees more flexible schedules? Perhaps they might persuade workers who could produce 40 hours worth of work in a 30 hour period. If it worked think of the benefits? Happy, well-rested and positive employees is a rare commodity in the places I've worked at, but a 30 hour work week could truly revolutionize the workplace and our lives.