SLC-S29 W4-‘‘Thinking and Ideas!| Rethinking the Normal!’’

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Name one practice, belief, or system that people accept as normal but should be questioned.

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One practice which has long been accepted but needs to be examined more closely is that of the traditional 9-5 and five-day workweek. It's taken to be the natural form of productivity, even though it was developed for factory labour more than one hundred years ago and not for modern knowledge work or creative problem solving.

Despite massive changes in technology and lifestyle this schedule is still weirdly unquestioned nearly as if time cannot evolve. What makes it particularly strange is the way that people tend to feel exhausted or unfulfilled under this system yet assume it is their own personal weakness instead of the design of the system.

We accept burnout and Sunday dread, and life lived for the weekends as a normal part of living, rather than inquire if there is something wrong with the entire system itself in relation to human energy, focus, and well-being. The fact that it feels "normal" is exactly the reason for the question.

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Why do you think people rarely challenge it?

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People don't often challenge this system than it's so incredibly linked to a sense of identity, security, and fear. Jobs give you an income, some status and make people feel like part of society so questioning the structure feels risky, even ungrateful. When everyone in your world is going along to the same rhythm, it is easier to think it is something you are doing wrong, rather than to think that the rhythm itself may be wrong.

There's also a strong cultural narrative in favor of equating long hours and virtue. To be busy is to be ambitious, disciplined and worthy and to rest is to be lazy. To even call the workweek into question would be to question those moral assumptions, which are uncomfortable in societies constructed on the idea of productivity as the measure of value.

Source

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What could improve if this “normal” way changed?

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If this "normal" way were changed, one major improvement can be a better relationship with time. People may cut back on their working hours but work with greater attention, with improved output and reduced exhaustion. With increased flexibility, people could base work according to their natural energy patterns and there could be space for creativity, learning, and real rest.

In addition to better productivity, the quality of mental health could improve dramatically. More time for relationships, sleep and reflection would likely reduce chronic stress and anxiety. Communities may be more engaged and people may define success in broader terms in addition to endurance and availability.

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What might be lost if it disappeared completely?

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If the traditional workweek went away altogether, then some organization and predictability might go away. Fixed schedules are more convenient for coordination, specifically in large organizations and even in necessities. Not all of us do well with flexibility and some people do better with clear delineations between work and personal time.

There's also a risk that without careful design there could be a bleed through from work into everything. If "anytime" is substituted for "9-5," people may feel as if they are always "on," re creating the same problems in a different form. The idea isn't to get rid of structure, but to replace it with something more humane and intentional and that is outdated.

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