The Four-Hour Workday. This item is unavailable.The Four-Hour Workday

The future is here... and we are asking too little of it.

This book sends a clear message-we can reduce working time, and for very good reasons. The 8-hour workday was a compromise that worked well in the past, but modern problems require modern solutions. The 4-hour day might just be an ideal, but it can pave the way for other reforms and become a lifeboat for an economic system that placed its bet on automation.

New technology forces the issue again. And yet, we are failing to dream big enough. People in the past asked for 6- or even 4-hour shifts and managed to achieve the 8-hour workday. Today, we merely ask for job security: no wonder we get almost nothing in return.

Paradoxically, a world with shorter shifts is a more productive one too, both in human and business terms. Until then, however, we need a break from the misery of having a job and the desperation of not having one!

In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted a future with 15-hour workweeks. Yet here we are in 2026, more productive than ever but asked to work more and more. The time has come to once again ask for the 'impossible' in order to secure the decent.

Petrică is a former shepherd, passionate about philosophy and animal ethics.

He is also a regular contributor to Daily Philosophy. For all his articles see the Shepherd of Ideas website or subscribe to his Medium page.

When taking a break from writing, he likes to cook. Find his recipes at Balkan Umami. The recipes are inspired by his childhood in the mountains of northeast Romania and new tastes in plant-based cooking.