Can a four-day week combat stress?

Reducing working week from five days 'will help reduce stress, let families spend more time together and cut unemployment,' according to one of Britain's leading doctors. Although, the idea seems too attractive, is it practical? We explore.

Reducing working week from five days 'will help reduce stress, let families spend more time together and cut unemployment,' according to one of Britain's leading doctors. In a move that breaks from tradition, Prof John Ashton, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, in an interview with the Guardian suggested switching to a four-day week to help combat high levels of work-related stress.

The five-day week should be phased out to end what he called "a maldistribution of work" that is damaging many people's health.

Read: How to chase away office stress

Bringing the standard working week down from five to four days would also help address medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and the mental ill-health associated with overwork or lack of work, Ashton said.

"My concern is that too many people are working too long hours and too hard, and too many people aren't working at all. A large number of people are working crazy hours and a significant amount of people can't get work," Ashton said.

"We need a four-day week so that people can enjoy their lives, have more time with their families, and maybe reduce high blood pressure because people might start exercising on that extra day.

"If you've got two people in a couple working, they need to be able to work in such a way that they can spend time together with their children. It's a nightmare," said Ashton, adding, it would give parents the time to collect their children from school, among other benefits.

Attractive, yes, but practical?

Although, the idea of scheduling work for four days a week seems too attractive to be true, for most of us in India, it may be a long shot.

According to Dr Charu Goel Sachdeva, senior consultant medicine, Rockland hospital, the idea of stress itself is too subjective. Doubting how effective the four-day week would be, she says the idea is not practical. She stresses that one needs to be comfortable with his or her work schedule, as anything can lead to stress.

"I think we are still not ready to implement something like this in India," says Sachdeva.

Why? Because a good organizational setup and technological and other support networks are required to execute work in just four days, she explains. And with the diverse work population and its large size, this isn't the easiest task. And the pressure to complete work in time, would again, lead to stress, if that's what we're trying to reduce in the first place.

"With a three-day off employees would be mostly working on rotation. This could lead to confusion and co-worker stress," she adds.

Dr Gorav Gupta, Psychiatrist , Tulasi Healthcare agrees. While stating that a four-day week would allow for better physical rest, mental relaxation, family bonding, and improved interpersonal and intrapersonal relations, he said it still has slim chances of succeeding.

"India is a developing country in which everyone is pushing hard for economic security. Working for only four days a weak, can slow that down," he says.

In fact, he makes a different suggestion.

"A four-day week is not practical in India. But a five-day week would work well. It can be made compulsory for all sectors and organizations. Companies can bring in new policies to keep their employees happy and stress free."