What do you want?

Some things defy convention: I LOVE mondays.

For the last 20 months I haven't worked on Mondays.  When I tell people this (or they email me at work on a Monday and receive an auto-reply informing them of the fact) their general reaction suggests they think I spend the day at home, probably in front of the TV, possibly in my pyjamas. So on reflection the statement that I don't work on Mondays needs some clarification.  Perhaps what I should say is I don't work for my law firm on Mondays.  There are plenty of things I do work at: cooking, food shopping and being a house husband, being a father to my two children, training to climb a 600m alpine north face.  Admittedly, whilst I work at all of these things, most of them could also be counted as play. But maybe the work/play distinction is irrelevant - maybe these things all just count as 'life'.

For me the single biggest positive change in my adult life has been choosing to work part-time.  It was only when I stepped away from the idea of a rigid five-day work week that I realised how much of an artificial construct this is: a product of convention, and nothing more. It is quite remarkable how our daily lives are dictated by conventional wisdom - it is, after all, just a point of view held by a majority of people rather than any sort of universal law of nature. But I believe that conventions change and in the same way that men no longer wear bowler hats (or, for that matter, ties) as a matter of course in the city, and supermarkets no longer close on a sunday, we are moving away from a strict convention that we have to work all day every day, Monday through Friday.  Or that we must start work in our early twenties and continue in one job, one company, one industry or even one profession for the rest of our working lives. Often (although by no means always) the most interesting people I meet, read or hear about, are those who have pursued a number of different roles in their lives, whether by pursuing a portfolio of different jobs simultaneously, mixing conventional work with child-rearing, hobbies or sport, making one or more complete changes in the course of their careers, or by constructing a life for themselves which allows them to work in blocks of time or only for specific periods during the year.  We would probably all agree that all work and no play makes Jack (or Jill) a dull boy (or girl) yet I am always surprised at how surprised, or even envious, people are when they learn that I have chosen to mix work with play (and life) as a matter of course.  I always point out that its a choice open to everyone.

When I was considering a career change, Dave Macleod (who regular blog reader(s) will know is one of my all-time climbing heroes) was a big inspiration to me.  A few years ago he wrote about making change and never wanting to look back in twenty years and wonder why he hadn't done what he wanted with his life.  He returned to this theme recently in a blog post about taking a year off work to climb.  His view was that this approach risks offering only temporary satisfaction, all the while knowing the clock is ticking down on your freedom.  As he says:

"If you are prepared to walk out on a perfectly good job for the sake of climbing, why not negotiate a better schedule as your first resort. If you’re thinking of leaving anyway, what have you got to lose? Naturally it will be an easier sell if you offer the solutions on a plate or point to an example of when it has worked in the short term before. Since jobs come in infinite shapes and sizes, there is no universal solution. It’s up to you to use your imagination, and then just about every other skill under the sun to make it actually happen. Whatever you choose, DO IT! Don’t leave it as a dream on the table."

Once again his words struck a chord with me. Perhaps the only thing holding people back is their (lack of) imagination. Or maybe it's a fear of stepping down to a lower level of disposable income or financial security. But no-one will make our dreams a reality for us, it is for each of us to take control - life should be something we do, not just something that happens to us. 

On one level, working a four day week is about working less, of course. Yet for me it is about something simpler and more fundamental - living more, and experiencing as much of life as I can in the short time I have available. I still find myself marvelling at how a career change, a paycut and a change to my working patterns has opened my mind to what life can really be about.  I'm not suggesting that everyone should work part-time. Many people don't want to, or weigh up the pros and cons and decide its not worth it. Yet we can find ourselves continuing on a path that offers limited satisfaction or even actual unhappiness, often because its what we've been conditioned to do.   So ask yourself: what's important to you? What do you enjoy? How much material wealth do you really need? In short, what do you want, and how are you going to get it?