A Case For the 10 Day Week
"A new and better world cannot be built on a calendar with its faulty pattern of yesterday." - Elisabeth Achelis
Notes on Time
Last month, I went shopping for my 2023 planner and was confronted with several templates for how to divide my life. This inspired me to reflect: what units of time do I value? And which would I toss?
Millisecond: Gimme a break.
Second: Seems more like a perfunctory unit than a useful one, but Olympians and al dente pasta will tell you otherwise. One’s fate can change in a matter of seconds (A sudden kiss! A car crash!), so it undeniably holds gravity. I have little use – but much respect – for the second.
Minute: Alarm clock snoozers rise up: we love those extra minutes!
Quarter Hour: Everybody is late to everything these days, and this is partially due to our obsession with scheduling things on the half-hour! Next time you’re in charge, consider scheduling a 45 minute meeting, or having your friend meet you at 11:15. The unusual timestamp is more memorable, more intentional, and more likely to be heeded.
Half Hour: Undoubtedly useful, but overly relied upon. Also one of the most dragging and petulant units of time. If a day passes slowly, it is because of the too many half hours that comprise it.
Hour: Daylight savings, college classes, and naps speak to the power of the hour. A lot can get done in an hour. Really – set a timer! Recently, I decided to drag my brain away from the internet and take an hour to do as many tasks on my to-do list as I possibly could. Reader, I did them all. I did them all!!!
Day: I just learned the term crepuscular, as in, my cat is crepuscular: active during dusk and dawn. One rotation against the sun, moonrise, and tide fall. From morning people to night owls, our natural rhythms obey the day.
7 Day Week: Disgusting and ill-divvied tool of capitalism, meant to trap us in the lie of the 9-to-5. Mathematically worthless, and nothing natural about it. Nobody likes working five days (decidedly Too Much Work), and nobody likes the two day weekend (no time for anything!). Totally trash unit of time. “But woe,” you ask, “is there another way?!”
10 Day Week: “Ah,” say those who remember the title of this blog, “here we fucking go.” That’s right, folks, this was a TRICK listicle! I’ve lulled you into receptivity with buzzwords, and now you must hear me out.
After two years of working my first job out of college, I was burnt out and fed up. Five days on, two days off left little room for the many projects and plans I had for my life. The pandemic brought a break in this structure. Suddenly, “weekend stuff” could now happen during boring meetings (camera off, shower on!). The more time I got back, the more the days blended together – each one simultaneously a Sunday and a Wednesday. It was cool! And depressing.
When they brought us back to the office, back under the strict 9-to-5 structure, I quit and resolved to “reclaim time,” a proclamation most people laughed at. But I was serious! I did my research and found I wasn’t alone – in the 1930s, New York socialite Elisabeth Achelis lobbied for an alternative calendar:
Achelis valued years, and cherished days. She did not admire weeks: “It’s very disturbing to have five Saturdays in one month every now and then.”
Though five Saturdays sounds great to me and Achelis’ World Calendar was mainly focused on solving the problem of the “wandering Easter,” I was nevertheless inspired to define my own timetable. A calendar that worked for me, deprioritizing the day job. 5,000 years after the Ancient Egyptians, and 200 years after post-revolutionary France, I came to the same conclusion as my predecessors: the 10-day week as the perfect solution.
Even in modern times, the 10 day week has it all:
Mathematical logic
~30 day months divided neatly into three.
Haters have already pointed out the issue of 31-day months. The extras are no-work holidays! Are you really gonna complain about that??
Improved balance
Divide it how you will! Workhorses can put in 8 days (yay, more work!) and still have a regular weekend. The rest of us can go half on, half off. OR, work seven days but with a break in between! Greater numbers means greater flexibility! You are free to reframe and reprioritize your life how you like.
Literally more time!
With just Saturday and Sunday reserved for errands, partying, and burnout, I rarely made headway on my to-do lists. Given 10 days to complete errands, there is much more space to accomplish it all and begin the next “week” with a clean slate.
When planning, we always “try again next week,” but next week is often too soon! The 10 day week is more realistic about how long it takes to rejuvenate.
Astronomical significance
If you follow the month, you follow the moon. In a perfect world, my calendar literally does track with the cycle of the moon, but I can’t have it all, not even in my own blog :/
I could go on, but I already hear the questions you’re raising. I’ll direct you to my comment section! I’d love to know what you think! I will answer this first one, though: How?
First, we start small. I couldn’t find a 10-day-week agenda at any Williamsburg stationery shop. My job still schedules me for something called a “Tuesday.” If I were freelance, or a full-time artist, maybe things would be different… But for now I’m doing this:
Giving myself 10 days to accomplish the tasks on my to-do list
Planning social engagements with 10-day foresight (I already find I have more burnout preparedness)
Setting ambitious goals by the month, instead of micro-goals by the week
Trying to force my period to align with my fun new rules (I’ll keep you updated)
Telling my loved ones I now abide by a 10-day-week cycle (and in turn, allowing their eye rolls).
Then what? Look, I’m not naïve. We’ve all got jobs, and much of our world is plotted Monday to Sunday. But I do think it’s important to reflect on the way your life is currently balanced. Are you satisfied? Energized? Taking a lot of emergency naps? What’s missing? What can shift? What can’t? Technocapitalism has led to a rise in productivity like none we’ve seen before (though congrats on the recent dip, y’all!) Employers expect more and more each year. The 7 day week is a tool that works in their favor; meanwhile, we all go on thinking it’s yet another thing we can’t change. Reclaim time? Everybody laughs. But it can be done! It has been done! Time is a construct!
*deep breath*
OH RIGHT, WE’RE NOT DONE HERE.
Biweekly: “Wait, does that mean twice a week or every other week?” It’s usually obvious by the context, but the general trend is this: biweekly is every other week, bimonthly indicates twice a month. As a bisexual I’m happy to clear things up.
Month: A unit of time based loosely on the rotation of the moon? Sign me up! And considering that I’m on my period right now, I guess I’m already signed up! Each month has its own distinct feel, color, and set of holidays. Months also carry a sense of nostalgia – we sentimentally poach their names for our lyrics and children. August // fly she must // I do adore the month.
Season: Who doesn’t love a season? Well, I guess politicians and capitalists hellbent against meaningful climate policy changes. While I’m being so opinionated, I’ll also add that I’m a firm season literalist. Winter is not December-January-February. It is December 21st - March 20th. Though I’m a late March baby, so I’ll cop to being overprotective of my spring child status.
6 Months: We recently celebrated my cat’s half-birthday with freeze-dried minnows (he loves them) and a window bed (couldn’t care less). Five stars for six months.
Year: When did everyone begin to hate New Year’s Resolutions so much? People who buy dog food (I work at a pet shop) couldn’t rip on ‘em enough last month. They’re like, why should you wait for the new year to set your goals; why not start working as soon as possible? (#hustle #grindset) Uhh, because winter sucks, the turning of the new year gives us an opportunity for hope, and there is power in collective manifestation! Take it or leave it! 🙄
Retail gripes aside, the year is a generous unit. In a year, there is ample space for work, play, and surprise. It’s just about the perfect length of time for self-reflection – it does take about a year to realize how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned. This time last year, I had freshly moved to NYC. I had no job, but big plans to finish my album and commit to the artist’s life. I’ve now held four jobs in NYC, fully committed to the artist’s life, and have once again declared that this is the year I’m finishing the album. And also writing a book. And blogging bi-monthly. And making lots of friends. And having beautiful hands.
Do I believe I can do all of these crazy, ambitious things? Of course I do. I urge you to gift yourself this same, decisive faith. If not now, maybe tomorrow. If not tomorrow, maybe next week!
Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!
Today’s Emoji: 😎
We already know that I am partial to emojis harkening back to a simpler time, and “Cool Guy” stays true to his B-) predecessor. What I like about Cool Guy is that he’s cool. Instead of hiding his pain behind 2007 Invader Zim sarcasm like his cousin 🙃, 😎 faces hardship with confidence, humor, and a carefree attitude. When I asked Instagram to search 😎 in their messages and send me the good stuff, I got gems such as “Boys, we’re in 😎,” “I’m about to go get hummus 😎,” and “Guess whose sore throat is now just a plain old boring sore throat 😎”
In conclusion,
😎 is for celebrating small victories
😎 is for laughing in the face of darkness
😎 is for being cool
The Gossip
I always struggle most with this section. I’ve attempted celebrity commentary, but I just can’t turn around these takes quickly enough to beat Twitter. So why not just evolve THE GOSSIP into what I subconsciously always knew it would become: AN ADVICE COLUMN!
What better way to provide ethically sourced gossip than to offer sage advice in return? My qualifications: I am an eldest daughter, I’ve received years of therapy and life coaching, and a 22 year old recently called me wise. I also have casual expertise in the following fields:
💞Dating (monogamous and polyamorous)
🎨Being (or claiming your identity as) an artist
👭Bisexuality
🕊️Quitting your job
📱Digital communication (text-flirting; social media addiction; etc.)
🥳Making friends as an adult
So there it is! Consider this hard-launched! Feel free to DM me on Instagram @soflysophie with your story. OR, if you prefer to remain fully anonymous, I’ve created a Google Form that doesn’t collect your email. Don’t fret about writing it out perfectly, as I’ll be paraphrasing for length. I look forward to seeing what this becomes ✨
A Song
I write songs from the heart and with no intention of comedy (I have improv for that), but audiences often laugh at certain lines. It jars me every time! I’m like, don’t you get that this is real to me??
Songs like Muskrat Love (Muskrat Candlelight) remind me that music can be earnest and silly in the same breath, and come out stronger for it. Ramsey spins a tale of two muskrats named Susie and Sam making love by candlelight and ultimately becoming engaged to marry. Ha ha, right? But then add instrumentation: gorgeous open acoustic, 70s twang-folk harmony, a buoyant bassline, delicate icy keys, and a lazy softness throughout. Voila! A heartfelt masterpiece capturing that blissful moment where true love meets rapture. It’s funny! It’s sweet! It’s natural! It’s human! It’s one of my favorite songs of 2022.
By the way, Ramsey – though widely respected (and covered) by rockers across genre lines – only released one album. When asked where the new album is, he often responds: “What’s wrong with the first one?”
Anywhere, here’s a Muskrat Love inspired playlist. Let me know if you have any additions!