by In our series looking at the possibility of a post-work future, last time we looked at how the centrality of work to our identity would be a significant obstacle to be overcome. This time, we tackle the obstacle of how our jobs are central to how daily life is organized.
For almost a century, the bulk of work life has been based around a Monday-to-F
riday, nine-to-five schedule. When we eat, play, learn, and sleep is organized around when we got to work. We had meals before and after work, kids went to school during the day, and adults in the evening after work. Religious activities are typically held on weekends. And so on. If we no longer need to go to work, how would we arrange our daily life? [And what we would we do with this big block of time is another discussion]
But it’s not an inconceivable change. Historically speaking the 9-5 world is just a brief instant of the human experience. And it has also been slowly but steadily changing for many years now. For many the traditional Monday-Friday nine-to-five schedule is already a distant memory. The free agent or gig economy model is already emerging. This often means periods of intensive work followed by short or long gaps without work. The average numbers of hours worked per week has been steadily declining (I know, not for me either). It’s 34 hours in the US, and just 29 in the Netherlands.
As work increasingly shifts around-the-world, it also goes around the clock. The dreaded international conference across multiple time zones has people working at all kinds off odd hours. As work shifts out of the workplace to the home, coffee shops, and virtual spaces, people’s daily routines have become less stable. Work has become more remote – about 3/4th of professional –work remotely at least one day a week.
I suspect many still believe or hope that their worklife will return to normal, but it probably won’t. It’s going to be a big adjustment, but it’s underway, and not unprecedented. AH
[…] our series on a post-work future, last time we looked at how jobs providing structure to daily life would be a significant obstacle to be overcome. This time, we tackle the obstacle of jobs are a […]