If hustling for you translates to burning yourself out. You may have the wrong idea about what a healthy work-life balance means. Because Iceland just proved that we can function on a four day work week successfully.
In a trial that was run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government of Iceland, which included 2,500 workers from organisations such as preschools, offices, social service providers, and hospitals, people attempted to move from a 40 hour week to a 35/36 hour week.
This trial aimed for unions to renegotiate the working hours and salaries for employees. Which meant that the organisations taking part in this initiative would decrease the working hours for their employees while still keeping their salaries the same as before.
As a result of this change, many people reported feeling less stressed, productivity either remained the same or improved, people were able to spend more time with their families and partake in their hobbies all the while being able to handle personal/house chores successfully.
Following suit, countries such as Spain and New Zealand are also cutting down their working hours. Spain has many companies implementing the four-day-work-week plan, whereas Unilever is cutting their employees’ working hours down by twenty percent in New Zealand.
We need more countries on this bandwagon!