Who Decided We Had to Work Monday to Friday and Spend the Weekend Recovering From It?

I feel like we’ve been sold this idea that we must work Monday to Friday, 5 days a week, on those specific days, and then we’re allowed or rewarded with 2 measly days off.

It’s something I’d already started questioning a couple of years ago when I started cutting back my work days. Taking Mondays off, extending my weekends. But now it’s got me thinking more about the fact that we have this almost negative association with work days. It’s commonly a complaint — “ah I have to work,” “I don’t want the weekend to end,” “I don’t want to go to work on Monday.” It’s rare to hear someone genuinely excited about their Monday or their big week of work.

And it made me wonder, who even came up with this whole Monday to Friday, work days and weekends thing anyway?

So naturally I asked ChatGPT. And honestly the answer is wild…

“It’s completely made up. The Monday to Friday workweek isn’t some natural or universal way of living. It’s a structure shaped by religion, the Industrial Revolution and economic systems that prioritised productivity.”

Sunday became a rest day because of Christian tradition. Factory workers during the Industrial Revolution were grinding six to seven day weeks in brutal conditions. Labour movements fought back and introduced the eight hour workday. Then in 1926 Henry Ford made the five day forty hour week mainstream, not for the workers’ wellbeing, but because it boosted productivity and gave people time to spend money.

That structure spread globally. And we just inherited it. Without question.

And that right there just goes to show, we’ve been sold this idea that we must live our life this structured way. But we don’t have to.

I’m still figuring things out as I go. But what I’m moving towards is this, instead of forcing myself into a rigid Monday to Friday structure, burning out by the weekend and then spending two days recovering, what if I just listened to myself instead? Took rest when my body was actually asking for it. Worked when I felt energised and inspired. Lived intuitively rather than by a schedule that was never designed for me in the first place.

I’ve already broken free from the grind in so many ways, but the further along this journey I go, the more I realise there are still deeper layers to unlearn. This is one of them.

Building a life on my own terms isn’t a destination. It’s something I’m learning more about every single day.

Why would I need a designated day off from a life I actually love?

That’s what I’m experimenting with. And I’ll report back on how it goes.