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Around the world, the concept of a four-day working week is gaining popularity. The list of countries that have trialled the four-day work week, or plan to trial it within the next two years, is growing. According to Euro News, it includes:

These countries often trial a model that provides 100% of usual pay, for 80% of the usual work, with a commitment to maintain at least 100% of previous productivity. Of countries that have already trialled a four-day week, there are almost always some companies that continue the practice even if it does not become law. Suggested benefits include increased productivity, better work:life balance, and a reduction in environmentally harmful activities.

There are certainly critics of this initiative, but it does seem to be slowly becoming more of a reality. With this being the case, it’s worth speculating how you could harness the four-day working week to improve your health and fitness.

More Sleep

It’s a no brainer – if you’re working less, there’s a chance you can sleep more. This could be especially significant for those people burning the candle at both ends (starting early, finishing late) or those working varying shift patterns.

More sleep can reduce stress, sickness, and injury risk. It can also improve focus and reduce accidents. Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night, and the four-day work week could help you get it.

More Time to Be Active

Not having enough time is seen as one of the biggest obstacles to pursuing a more active lifestyle. It’s not just about having time to work out; it’s about having the spare mental energy to decide what to do, when to do it, and put a routine in place that guarantees you don’t get side-tracked (if you can relate to this, then this post might be for you). The four-day working week could give you the extra time for a workout, or it might provide some much-needed breathing space for you to prepare your routine for the week ahead.

It’s important to note that the gym isn’t for everyone – other popular activities include playing a sport or going for long walks. These are also time-consuming, and it can be harder to book spaces to sporting activities if everyone has exactly the same free time (weekends). Having an extra day off would increase your free time for these activities and possibly reduce busy periods at your local sports club.

Good and Bad Implications for Eating

I would consider myself anti-diet culture, and don’t like placing a heavy emphasis on weight loss as a reason for exercise. However, I appreciate it is a focus for a lot of people. I also appreciate that excessive eating and drinking can have negative effects on a person’s health over the long-term. One factor that can exacerbate overeating/drinking is the concept of a cheat day. A cheat day/days typically take place at the weekend after someone has spent their week sticking to a structured or restrictive diet. There are a number of pitfalls to this mentality:

1. Your eating habits can be associated with guilt and shame, which can harm your relationship with your body and food.
2. The all-or-nothing mentality: having the weekends “off” after a week of restriction is a sure-fire way to increase consumption more than if you were to just be slightly more relaxed in the week.

With the prospect of your “weekend” increasing by 50% in a four-day working week, this mentality could reach further extremes:

• More time “off” from the diet means more time to overindulge with no structure.
• More indulgence could lead to more guilt when your week starts again.
• A shorter week and more guilt could lead to you trying to restrict even harder during the working week.
• This cycle will then repeat itself each week.

Although this sounds pretty negative, you have to remember that the four-day week is not the problem: the cheat-day mentality is. Hopefully this provides an incentive for you to ditch this mindset for good! However, there could be more positive effects of a four-day work week on your eating:

• A less extreme work:rest ratio (4:3 days instead of 5:2) could reduce the novelty of cheat days.
• More time off could lead to less stress and less emotional eating.
• The weekends might have less of a “blowout” feeling, especially for those work cultures that idolise the big Friday night out.
• Spending more time at home could mean more time to cook, and less fast-food at lunch.

Conclusion

In reality, the four-day work week is probably still a long way away. While I’m pleasantly surprised by how many countries are now trialling it, I know there will be a high level of resistance from industries known for high performance, long work hours, and employer “loyalty”.

Still, I’m optimistic that there are plenty of benefits for all sides, and it’s exciting to speculate on how it could make us all happier and healthier.

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