Why We Should Have a 3-Day Weekend

Weekends are mostly regarded as times for leisure, and they are comprised of Saturday and Sunday. Most people devote a lot of their time to work-related activities throughout the week. Some even work on weekends which means that they do not find enough time to rest. This is because of the utopian way of thinking which states that if people dedicate little time to their work, there will be increased economic hardship which will be caused by decreased consumption and lower productivity (Delmez & Vincent n.p). In the perfect society, a 3-day weekend does not seem feasible. However, looking at the health and happiness benefits of having a 3-day weekend, the need for having such an approach should be implemented.

The Effects of Devoting Time to Non-Work Activities

In David Spencer’s article “Why We Should Get 3-Day Weekends All the Time, According to Science,” he explores the effects of devoting a majority of the week to activities that are not related to work. According to the article, spending more time on work costs more. Some of the costs include mental and physical problems (David n.p). The risks of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart diseases increase when one uses a majority of his or her time to work (Ziemba 1). Work also cuts the ties of friendship and family; this also inhibits the ability of individuals to do things that make life worthy and valuable. Work takes up much of the time that people have; this means that it will be difficult for one to find alternative things that he or she can do for a living (Nakata 53041). It can be seen that work makes lives more difficult, reduction of the working time should be focused on reducing drudge work, this makes people enjoy the benefits of working even more. The effects of inequality have proved to be a significant barrier in the bid towards the reduction of time dedicated to work. The developments of technology have also not made the expected impact on the reduction of working time (Kivimäki et al., 28). Having a 3-day weekend means that there is a more productive and healthy life, this can only be achieved if the society is reimagined. Life needs to be focused on overcoming the barriers that exist in economic, political and ideological aspects so that a 3-day weekend can be created.

Part II

I was drawn to this text because of its title; the article is titled “Why We Should Get 3-Day Weekends All the Time, According to Science.” From this title, it can be seen that the answer to the question, why we should have a 3-day weekend can be answered scientifically. The issue of having a 3-day weekend needs to be discussed through different perspectives. The most common views that stakeholders use to handle this issue are political, ideological and economical. However, the scientific perspective needs to be considered as well; this is because there are scientific implications when an individual dedicates the majority of his time to work. This makes this article an interesting one; this is because it puts the scientific consequences of working too much int context. The author of the article is also a professor of political economy and economics; this means that he has a considerable understanding in the area of work and he comes up with workable reasons on why the weekend needs to be three days long.

As a professor of economics, it means that he can comprehend the different effects that the 3-day weekend is going to have economically. He considers the views of the utopian society and the arguments that the present about having to go to work. Although the cases are justifiable, the adversaries caused by overworking overweigh the benefits that are obtained. The author is also a political economics professor; this means that he understands the diverse ideological arguments that are presented regarding this issue. In this article, the ideological views are factored and their strength and weaknesses evaluated. The issue of reducing working hours should be considered from all perspectives, by having an understanding of the aspects of this issue, the author is best fitted to discuss this issue. I decided to use this article because of the experience of the author and the factors that it touches regarding work. Through this article, I can look at the issue of having a three-day weekend through a broader perspective. This also allows me to widen the scope of my thinking so that I can be able to develop my research project.

The article creates a balanced impression, the views on both perspectives, devoting more time to work and leisure are presented in an unbiased manner. The author factors in all the aspects and ideological variations that different people have developed regarding this issue in the article. This makes it fair as it provides an evaluation of all elements before the conclusion is given. The article is interesting because it discusses the political, ideological and political barriers for promoting less working time. The differences that exist make it difficult for the society to develop a working framework that allows people to work for fewer hours as compared to the amount of time that they spend on their work currently. This has helped me in having a proper understanding of the subject since there is a broader perspective on the discussion of this topic. I now understand that there are political, ideological and economic issues that bar the implementation of the framework that will allow people to spend less time on their jobs. There are scientific implications that should also be considered in the discussion of this issue. Looking at the problem differently will allow me to have a more specific view on the subject and other related topics that will help me in developing my research project.

Works Cited

David Spencer, The Conversation. “Why We Should Get 3-Day Weekends All The Time, According To Science”. Science alert, 2018, https://www.sciencealert.com/why-we-should-get-three-day-weekends-all-the-time-according-to-science. Accessed 2 Oct 2018.

Delmez, Françoise, and Vincent Vandenberghe. Working long hours: less productive but less costly? Firm-level evidence from Belgium. No. 2017022. Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES), 2017.

Kivimäki, Mika, et al. ”Long working hours, socioeconomic status, and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data from 222 120 individuals.” The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

3.1 (2015): 27-34.

Nakata, Akinori. ”Long working hours, job satisfaction, and depressive symptoms: a community-based cross-sectional study among Japanese employees in small-and medium-scale businesses.” Oncotarget 8.32 (2017): 53041.

Ziemba, William T. ”Comment on “Why a weekend effect?”.” Great Investment Ideas 9 (2016): 1.