A recent episode of the podcast Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd talked about the 4-day week with Andrew Barnes of Perpetual Guardian, Autonomy UK’s Will Stronge, and researcher Rachel Kay.
At one point, they ask Barnes why he’s become a full-time evangelist for the four-day week. He says:
The reason I am traveling the world now talking about it is, this is the best thing I’ve ever done. You don’t get many chances to change the world. This happens to be mine….
This is a great way to address the big issues facing the world today. It’s the climate change, it’s the impacts of AI, it’s mental health, it’s family cohesion, it’s just having time to be human. That’s what this is about.
Like Andrew, I’m struck by how the 4-day week helps us address a whole bunch of problems at once, from worker autonomy and workplace happiness, to stubborn gender disparities, all the way up to the robot apocalypse and climate change. A great chance to save the world.