More discussions than ever have been involved about post-pandemic work life, as it is clearly understood that most business operations were able to adapt to new practices such as working from home or flexible working hours. How does a 4-day work week sound? One of the new ideas suggested by some of France’s political thinkers in order to get ready for the 2022 Presidential election in April. In fact, the Scottish government is preparing for a £10 million pilot to help companies transiting to a 4-day working week. Salaries for employees remain the same with working one day less.
Hong Kong has been the most overworked city in the world, according to Kisi’s Global Work-life Balance Index 2021. One third of Hong Kong employees work more than 48 hours on a weekly basis, compared to Oslo’s average of 39 working hours — the best city in the ranking for work-life balance.
To me, I barely remember taking a genuine day off since the beginning of the year, as I found it hard to take my mind off thinking about all the moving parts in running start-up projects. It is indeed way more challenging than what I could have imagined when I signed up for it. It got me to recall one of Elon Musk’s quotes in 2015, “Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80-to-100-hour weeks every week. This improves the odds of success…” Don’t get me wrong, I do not entirely agree with this as I reckon it is more manageable to strike a balance in life. Luckily my loved ones have been very supportive to the dream(s) that I have been chasing after, so I could just spend more time working while reminding myself floating on the line of balance.
How would you spend time on a day off? Living our lives under new normals is not easy, especially social gatherings have been largely prohibited and even getting out of home for groceries might be restricted in certain parts of the world. After all, a day off is an opportunity for us to recharge from whatever routine we follow on other days of the week, or to rest our body and mind for maintaining health, as well as for us to explore the purposes of life again. I am going to share a couple of challenges that might make our days off less desirable than they should be.
Digital Fatigue
How much screen time is normal for an individual? Back in 2016, The total audience report indicated that adults spent 10 hours and 39 minutes on screens on a daily basis. 6 months into the pandemic and a similar research by Vision Direct revealed an updated figure. Any wild guess of how much of the increased screen time was amid the pandemic? 19 hours and 6minutes, as of June 2020. Although digital channels such as social media may be the most handy and engaging tool we could get to connect with friends, families and many others. The fact that we involuntarily spend excessive time on digital screens likely weakens the quality of our rest days for many obvious reasons. It can be frustrating to have a meal with or just talk to somebody who cannot stay off of their mobile devices, in turn it might damage relationships with your loved ones. Taking a moment with someone you care about is a perfect activity on days off, do not let the screen addiction takes away your precious time off!
Stuck In Hometown
“Let’s have a short getaway to Taipei or Bangkok this weekend!” Does it sound familiar or recall some of the good memories? Most of us in Hong Kong used to be very eager to plan trips to nearby cities on certain long weekends or public holidays, going to those destinations with 2–4 hours flight time. The fact that we almost or already forgot about travelling makes our days off somewhat less exciting. We must have heard of new local options for mini holidays such as “staycation” (a portmanteau of “stay” and “vacation”), visiting specialty cafés in every corner of Hong Kong, as well as “daycation” (a one-day vacation) to outlying islands and beaches. However, as much as there are still plenty of novel places in our hometown to check out on weekends, our strong desire to travel and connect to the world never fades away.
Out Of Ideas For Self Discovery
Have you ever had a moment of emptiness when you no longer need to follow the day-to-day routines on days off? Perhaps you would get out of bed later than usual in the morning, just to take it slow on the day that there is no rush at all. After a while when you are well awake and then it starts to feel like “What is next for the rest of the day?” Believe it or not, making a plan helps to reduce anxiety because it makes you more likely to follow through. However, it is not easy to come up with something meaningful or electrifying on every day off.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience”.
We get too used to sorting out priorities on a daily basis, and neglecting the passion and purposes for other matters in our lives. One of the many purposes of taking some time off is to keep a work life balance and to discover more experiences to enrich our lives. Every one of us deserves a better quality of life no matter what.
When You Have A Day Off Next Time
Without the freedom to travel abroad, our team gave it a go to set up TADO (aka Took A Day Off) alongside our other operations. TADO is a lifestyle & wellness experience booking platform based in Hong Kong. We spent almost 8 months testing the water in the potential market and the customer groups that we serve. Our onboard experience offerings grew from less than 5 in the first month of operation to more than 50 offerings in 6 months.
The purpose of TADO is simple. It is to provide a space for leisure activities — a “day off” from your daily routine. It is exclusively for you and your loved ones to immerse yourself into either a new hobby, a new learning journey, or even just a novel experience that you normally do not come across on a daily basis.
It is designed to bring you to a whole new journey of lifestyle and wellness. If you are interested, check it out at https://www.tookadayoff.com
