Washington Post writer Christine Emba makes the case that we should push for a 4-day workweek not because it will make us better producers, but because it will make us better people:

The push for a shorter workweek was already gaining traction before the pandemic. But covid-19’s upending of office life has made it seem more plausible than ever — perhaps even necessary. Companies have realized that their hastily adopted flexible work policies can help attract and retain employees, and workers have proved they can adjust to radical shifts in their working lives.

Yet we keep thinking about work in a disappointingly narrow way….

When we focus on how a shorter workweek will make us better employees, we’re making the wrong argument to our bosses and ourselves. The four-day workweek shouldn’t just be about becoming more productive — the real benefit is that it would allow us to be fuller people.

So why not discuss the four-day workweek in those terms?