I’d like to do 4-7 hours of work a day. I’d probably like to work 2 days, then have a day off, 2 days, a day off. Or work every day, but only do 3-4 max hours a day with it being fully flexible when. I’d like to take opera singing lessons every other day for half an hour or max an hour. I’d choose to work during hours when people are usually off and enjoy more empty cityscape when people are usually at work. If my health allowed, I’d love to regularly donate blood again. I also wouldn’t mind regularly volunterring for a cat charity or something like this. Maybe I’d volunteer in a communal city garden, but leave just before most people come.
In my current job as a postal worker, working 4 days a week for max 4 daily hours.
I actually like customer service (I work in hospitality now, albeit hospitality IT) so I would to continue doing something in the vein. Since I love cooking, I would like to own a small cafe with very limited hours; basically a place I would make coffee and some light food for some regulars around the neighborhood. Grow some of the herbs I use for myself on site (also something I do now). Nothing exceptionally demanding though, I have worked in kitchens before and I don’t want the kind of atmosphere obsesessed with getting dishes out efficiently and turning tables. Just want to feed some people, maybe discuss some of our latest books over coffee.
Incidentally, that is all my retirement plans too.
There is actually a coffee shop sorta like that near where I live. Older gentleman owns the place with his wife, there is a 50/50 shot it’lll acutally be open anytime you go there. Serves coffee that he brews and sandwiches his wife makes, otherwise the place basically is just a library. Can chill there and read anything for as long as you want, they live above the place so won’t kick anybody out if they’re still reading.
I’d still like to be useful for my community. Work on improving housing, green spaces, infrastructures I guess. I’d love to spend more time gardening next to it. Hiking, seeing nature, working out. Just an easy, peaceful life is all I’m asking for.
I think, while I am sure I could find ways to fill a newly freed schedule myself, it would be better if, when we free said time, we ensure that a good portion of it goes towards community democratic engagement. Labor committees, arts projects, infrastructure repair, wherever you can help, whatever level you can help, we should work to have opportunities available that are both positive developments for the community and help develop individual skills or experiences that can be further used in life.
So, to answer your question sorta, I think 3 days of “work” would be perfect, maybe 6 hours a day or so. I think that should be paired with maybe two 4-6 hour days of community work and democratic work. You would still have more free time than before, but we would all be actively participating in the development of our society in some way.
Honestly, just more sleep. My whole life I’ve struggled with sticking to the idea of a “sleep schedule” and have tried tons of sleep drugs and nothing has helped. For some reason my body just won’t let me sleep at the typical 9-10pm routine. I genuinely would not mind working ~7 hours a day if I could just sleep whenever I needed it.
It would take constraints to get me to work at all. I spent 8 months unemployed, and not the stressed kind of unemployed; I was living off of my savings and only interviewing every 3 weeks or so. At no point did I feel any desire to work in any sense of the word. Work isn’t the result of some innate drive nor a source of self-worth for me; it’s just how I provide for me and future me. Once I hit retirement age or when we get to FALGSC, that’s the end of my relationship with work.
Very reasonable, but that brings News From Nowhere to mind. The novel takes place in a communist future and some of the characters remark the absurdity of people in early socialism not wanting to work. The time-traveling protagonist understands, but in this world people learned to enjoy work again.
I work on something most days, so I guess my schedule would look more or less the same except I’d start later in the day, go slower, and get home later but less exhausted. I don’t mind a long work day at my own pace nearly as much as I mind a normal work day at a fast pace, know what I mean?
I’m kinda lucky in that my current job is very “task based” rather than “hours based”, so I can sometimes do this already.
Well for most of my life I was just doing something I was obliged to. So if I suddenly didn’t have to work the silly capitalist schedule… I would likely struggle just to think of what to do. It’s already an issue with what little “free” time I get
I think 3 6hr days per week would be pretty good for me. I’d want some flexibility since I can get very focused on a problem, so I might go longer on occasion. I think I’d mostly do alternating on/off days, but that could change up as needed. Having 4 days off for 3 days of work sounds really ideal to me.
Mostly agree with you.
5 hours a day of work 4 or 5 days per week.
Much more working out. Working in some kind of community project sounds fun, I don’t know shit about gardening but I am pretty strong so I could help with whatever that is useful for.
Haven’t given it a ton of thought, it’s hard to abstract my life looking so much better like that. But one day we will experience it. In our lifetime comrades
I work 6h a day, and it’s nice having energy to actually engage with hobbies and studying once I’m home.
So happy for you! 🥰
Dang, I’m envious (probably until hearing actual details about your work, which would make me reconsider as I’m certain you’re doing something hard)
I enjoy it, although the hours have more to do with the union than anything else.
