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I like to fantasize about what life would be like if we had different length weeks. What if we ended up with three or 5 day weeks? Or perhaps 10 days? 7 days f

I like to fantasize about what life would be like if we had different length weeks. What if we ended up with three or 5 day weeks? Or perhaps 10 days? 7 days feels like it aligns well with the way we think and communicate about time. But maybe that is because it’s the only week length I’ve ever known.

q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 3y ago
The phases of the moon cycle every ~29.5 days [1], so you could use those to make an argument that a ~7-day week is pretty "natural." One could imagine early humans being much more aware of the phase of the moon (whereas I haven't even seen that thing in months), and the 29.5 day cycle naturally splits into two pieces, since it's (new moon) -> (full moon) -> (new moon). And one could also imagine people were pretty aware of when they were halfway between a new moon and a full moon — so now we've naturally arrived at a rough time interval of 29.5/4 = ~7 days. [1]: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/ https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/
- HPsquared 3y ago
  Doesn't that mean a 10-day week (3 weeks per month) is a better fit? Only 0.5 days out instead of 1.5. Edit: though with the sinusiodal variation in the moon, I guess it makes sense to divide it into 4. 3 weeks doesn't make sense for that.
- em500 3y ago
  We even have words for the halfway phases between new moon and full moon: first quarter and last quarter. The 7 day week is not directly derived from natural cycles (unlike the month and year lengths), but the moon phases are convenient synchronization points for (approximately) 7 day cycles.
andreyv 3y ago
The Soviet Union briefly tried 5 and 6 day weeks in the 1930s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_calendar
maratc 3y ago
> Or perhaps 10 days? The French tried it for several years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar
tornato7 3y ago
I think it would be interesting to try a 14-day workweek, working 9 days on and 5 days off. The advantage being that you can do a lot more on your weekends (international travel on a weekend is now possible), and during the week you'd have a lot of uninterrupted time to work. I imagine the productivity would be similar to a five-day week but it would feel like a lot more time off.
- TheCleric 3y ago
  That sounds miserable.
- jerbear4328 3y ago
  I feel like it would be better to split up the current streak of 5 working days we have than to clump it into 9 days of continuous working. You would definitely get burnt out after 9 days, as people already get burnt out after 5. We should go in the opposite direction - something like Weekend Wednesday [1] appeals to me. That way, you always have a break to look forward to, and you don't feel like your off days are unproductive. For longer breaks and international travel, that's what vacations and holidays could be for. I could see that a one-day weekend might not seem long enough for some people, in which case I have a compromise: the current system. It isn't perfect for everyone, and isn't immune from change, but it's a decent enough middle ground. [1] CGP Grey - https://youtu.be/ALaTm6VzTBw https://youtu.be/ALaTm6VzTBw
kristopolous 3y ago
There's a book recently published that goes over the history https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271157/the-week/ https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271157/the-week/ tldr: here's an interview he did on a 50 minute radio show about It (starts about 8.5 minutes in. I don't know why they distribute it this way either) https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-30-2021/ https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-30-20...
presentation 3y ago
If it were a more divisible number it would make my workout planning better

q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 3y ago

The phases of the moon cycle every ~29.5 days [1], so you could use those to make an argument that a ~7-day week is pretty "natural." One could imagine early humans being much more aware of the phase of the moon (whereas I haven't even seen that thing in months), and the 29.5 day cycle naturally splits into two pieces, since it's (new moon) -> (full moon) -> (new moon). And one could also imagine people were pretty aware of when they were halfway between a new moon and a full moon — so now we've naturally arrived at a rough time interval of 29.5/4 = ~7 days. [1]: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/ https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/moon-phases/en/

HPsquared 3y ago
Doesn't that mean a 10-day week (3 weeks per month) is a better fit? Only 0.5 days out instead of 1.5. Edit: though with the sinusiodal variation in the moon, I guess it makes sense to divide it into 4. 3 weeks doesn't make sense for that.
em500 3y ago
We even have words for the halfway phases between new moon and full moon: first quarter and last quarter. The 7 day week is not directly derived from natural cycles (unlike the month and year lengths), but the moon phases are convenient synchronization points for (approximately) 7 day cycles.

andreyv 3y ago

The Soviet Union briefly tried 5 and 6 day weeks in the 1930s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_calendar

maratc 3y ago

> Or perhaps 10 days? The French tried it for several years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_calendar

tornato7 3y ago

I think it would be interesting to try a 14-day workweek, working 9 days on and 5 days off. The advantage being that you can do a lot more on your weekends (international travel on a weekend is now possible), and during the week you'd have a lot of uninterrupted time to work. I imagine the productivity would be similar to a five-day week but it would feel like a lot more time off.

TheCleric 3y ago
That sounds miserable.
jerbear4328 3y ago
I feel like it would be better to split up the current streak of 5 working days we have than to clump it into 9 days of continuous working. You would definitely get burnt out after 9 days, as people already get burnt out after 5. We should go in the opposite direction - something like Weekend Wednesday [1] appeals to me. That way, you always have a break to look forward to, and you don't feel like your off days are unproductive. For longer breaks and international travel, that's what vacations and holidays could be for. I could see that a one-day weekend might not seem long enough for some people, in which case I have a compromise: the current system. It isn't perfect for everyone, and isn't immune from change, but it's a decent enough middle ground. [1] CGP Grey - https://youtu.be/ALaTm6VzTBw https://youtu.be/ALaTm6VzTBw

kristopolous 3y ago

There's a book recently published that goes over the history https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271157/the-week/ https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271157/the-week/ tldr: here's an interview he did on a 50 minute radio show about It (starts about 8.5 minutes in. I don't know why they distribute it this way either) https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-30-2021/ https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-december-30-20...

presentation 3y ago

If it were a more divisible number it would make my workout planning better