Over the years, the workforce has clamored for a reduction in the number of work days, and this appeal even gained more power in the last few months due to the high level of inflation. Even I joined in that cry and wanted lesser work days so I wouldn't end up spending all of my wages on transportation, but in view of today's prompt regarding whether I, as a civil servant, would prefer a reduced work day but longer hours at work, I find this quite dissatisfactory, and I'll tell you why below.
A few weeks ago I wrote about how the state government of Lagos, where I worked, reduced workdays to 3 in a bid to curb the effect of the inflation on her workers; however, that decree wasn't implemented in my profession as they believe it won't be ideal for teachers to have reduced workdays because it'll affect the students academic performance and the like.
I remember stating my displeasure about that order, and even though we were promised to be given an increased transportation allowance, till date we've not seen any changes in that regard, and yet we still work 5 days a week while the other workforce does 3. I see this as cheating and unfair treatment towards teachers, but then regarding this new proposition suggested by the hive learners community, I'll say no to such and would rather have my normal 5 workdays than to work for a longer duration and do that for only 4 days.
My reasons for this decision aren't far-fetched, as it's based on personal wellbeing and concern for the students mental health as well. Without beating around the bush, I'll explain further for better understanding. To start with, when I said it for personal wellbeing, what I meant is that working for a longer duration would affect my other activities I indulge in on a daily basis, and if I continue to do all together at that duration, I'll end up breaking down.
Another reason is that I won't have enough time for my family during such days, and it won't be ideal because, on a norm, I tried as much as possible to multitask and have multiple streams of income, and one if it includes hives, so working for a longer duration will make me get exhausted from my offline job and have little or no time for hives, and if I decide to make sure I remain consistent on hives alongside that longer duration, it means my family and loved ones would be the ones to fill it because I won't have enough time to bond with them.
On the other hand, how it affects the students is that learning for a longer duration would be too cumbersome for them, leading to mental breakdowns and the like. Students, students as I know, need a quality amount of time to relax their brains after learning, and spending too much time learning wouldn't do them any good because at the end of the day they'll be exhausted, ready for other activities, and would most likely not understand what they're taught any longer due to the mental stress such a long duration will cause.
So all of these reasons put together alongside some others that I forget to talk about are why I don't like the idea of four days of work but an extended work hours. If the government wants to help the citizens, they can easily reduce work days to 3 or 4 without increasing the duration spent at work. If it were that easy, they themselves should come and do it and let civil servants also take their place in politics and political positions.
All photos taken and edited on canva.
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