How a 4-day workweek is changing my life

It's official: I'm working 4 days a week instead of 5 for the rest of the year!

This is the first time I'm working part-time. I'm 2 weeks in, meaning I've had 2 long weekends so far. Fourteen to go! And man, it feels great.

The why and the how will be another post.

For now, in this post I want to talk about a more general Bad Feeling I had before I signed the contract, compared to how I feel now.

First, I have to tell you something that I feel lucky to be able to say: I'm writing the outline for this post in my Tesla, which is parked 50 meters from a sun-drenched field where my wife and kid are engaging in ball class. It is charging via one of the public charging stations littered throughout our city. The car, in turn, is charging my phone (internet) and laptop (workhorse).

The reason I feel compelled to tell you about this is because just a week ago, I was feeling rather down about my current life situation. I even felt like I was in a certain predicament. Might even have referred to it as a mid-life crisis to some people.

Yet here I am, feeling unlike someone in a mid-life crisis, feeling damn lucky to have what I have, to get to work from a car in a parking lot. I have the good fortunate to count myself among those who can work literally from anywhere in the world with a computer and an internet connection.

Throw in a few labels – like digital nomad, knowledge worker, programmer – and I feel even better about my "predicament."

I know this is starting to sound like I'm about to sell you a course, but really I have nothing to sell, only a lesson to share:

Time away from work – say, for 2 long weekends – can provide one with the vital mental distance that means the difference between hating one's job and being OK (or more than OK) with it.

I shared something relevant on LinkedIn on a whim when I was feeling down and now, looking back, I think it reveals something about the cause of my recent misery –

Yep, successful people are making me feel small.

No, let's try that again...

I'm letting successful people make me feel small.

Getting warmer...

I'm letting comparisons of myself against random successful people, especially those who are my age, make me feel small.

That's much more accurate.

Nice, but I know this is just one piece of the puzzle. Ephemeral awareness isn't going to solve these kinds of problems.

Let's be clear: my mid-life crisis hasn't been resolved. I still feel like I need to make a change before I'm too old to want to change. I feel like I lack a purpose, or, as Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken to saying a lot lately, a Vision.

While I don't have that, I do feel a little better than before when I notice the little things that I do have.

The point is a simple one and it's a recurring theme in my reflections. Distance provides perspective.

If you're feeling burned out or similar, maybe consider taking 2 consecutive Fridays off. Give yourself 2 long weekends and see how you feel. That's mental distance. Throw in some physical distance from the place you normally work (can be a sun-drenched field, a carpark lot, or the mountains) to amplify the impact.

I know I can figure this out. And I know you can too.