For years and years I’ve done the 9-5 thing,  recently I negotiated a 30 hour week - a four day week: Tuesday to Friday.

I’ve been doing it now for around three weeks and don’t want to ever go back to the churn and burn in the sausage factory - it’s a slow, slow death.

Monday to Wednesday was always ok, but by the end of Thursday - I was over it. Friday I would always find myself in a filthy mood, By Saturday, I’d be hungover and too tired to really enjoy the day and would wind up wasting most of it and then feel sorry for myself for doing so. On Sunday I would wake up depressed knowing  that I had to somehow work up the energy to vibe myself up for another week of the grind.

I felt there was never enough time in the week to [insert personal issue here], and do all the other things in life that are important: looking at bills, dealing with teenagers, aging parents, satisfying family, smelling the roses, getting out for a surf, learning new skills, catching up with friends, changing that lightbulb, etc etc. The time at work was so consuming and felt pointless.

My last job didn’t really contribute much to my general state of being. When I started I had some limited responsibility, after kicking quite a few goals, our broader company, in it’s wisdom, decided to move our unit to the “front of the bus”. It was all downhill from there - lucky for some not for others. Towards the end of my stay, I started feeling like another resource in a big retarded corporate beast - ie: change this, move that, lose this, add that - it looks great, how long will that take?

Financially with the 4 day week, I think I’m better off, less tax, less lunches and travel and more importantly more time to get some other interests off the ground, which may turn into recurring  income that will tick over in the future.

Now, I’m loving going to work and look forward to it every Tuesday. I’m finding that I am spending time thinking about how I can better contribute and make my time there more productive.

It’s really working for me.