Work update: I reduced to working 4 days/week and the cost/benefit asymmetry is astonishing.
Just one extra free day might not sound like much, but I feel like I gain >100% more high quality free time (Friday off is even better than Saturday; Sunday is not high quality free time for me – too much adulting to do).
And I lose only 20% of my productive work capacity (Well a bit more; Friday would be a more productive day than average for me b/c it’s quieter & less meetings).
I’ve constantly felt squashed the last few years, but always convinced myself it was a me problem, rather than a possibility that even “normal” working hours didn’t actually leave me with enough free time for everything I had to do*. (Maybe some of both)
But my energy and mood are way better than in a long time, so maybe it goes to show that the latter was the case, and one extra day can go a long way. (But that’s less surprising when you frame it as 100% more time).
I do need to be a bit more conscious of how I use my work week, and I have noticed a tendency to try to fit 5 days of work into 4… but overall it’s going well. I’m curious if I end up filling up the extra personal capacity and end up just as stressed, but I somehow doubt that will happen.
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*You might ask, well why are you so busy anyway? Are you just piling on voluntary responsibilities?
I’ve thought about this at length and I think my answer is glibly, “expat life”.