New Economic Foundation points to example of Utah, where four-day working week increased productivity and saved energy

• Nick Mathiason
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 13 February 2010
• Article history

Commuters on their way to work in London. The New Economic Foundation suggests that the future working week should be 21 hours. Photograph: Simon James/Alamy

British workers may be toiling hard to ward off unemployment, but the future could bring an average of only 21 hours a week chained to their desk.

A report by the influential thinktank, the New Economic Foundation, says over-consumption, rising unemployment, increasing inequality and deteriorating work-life balance can be tackled by radically altering working life.

Reducing the working week could also defuse the pensions time bomb by ensuring employees are healthy enough to work later in life.

Citing the example of Utah, the study shows how the US state's decision in 2008 to place all public-sector workers on a four-day week saved energy, reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.

The report argues that 21 hours a week is already close to the average length of time spent in paid employment.

"A lot of this is already happening," said the report's joint author, Andrew Simms of the NEF. "Job sharing is common practice … It's going to be increasing. Maybe we'll have less income and more time.

"Other than the benefit of having more time, what will happen is a reduction in inequality and the potential to be better-quality friends, partners and parents engaging more with communities.

"There is this issue of people retiring and their lives collapse. So this is a good opportunity for people to fulfil themselves. We are not saying this should be imposed. We're suggesting this should be more of a norm."

A spokesman for the Institute of Directors suggested that Britain's bosses are already increasingly offering "flexible working arrangements".

"Work/life balance for employees is something our members take seriously because they see benefits to people's lives," an IoD spokesman said. But he added that many businesses need continuity, which an increase in part-time labour would destroy.

The advent of personal computers was meant to have ushered in a new age of leisure outside the office. NEF's report shows that many people work longer hours than 30 years ago. Since 1981 two-adult households have added six hours to their combined weekly workload.

A separate survey last week by jobs website Monster showed that of nearly 2,400 polled, 37% said their work gets in the way of their relationships while 23% said they feel they are expected to put their work ahead of their home life.

I would actually vote for a politician who promised this.

I am reading Ad Nauseam: A Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture, edited by Carried McLaren and Jason Torchinsky. The book is a funny, smart and sometimes shocking collection of articles from Stay Free Magazine and blog. I first came across Stay Free when I was researching the psychology of advertising and was impressed by their sophisticated take on how adverts affect consumers' decision making. They discuss in Ad Nauseam how advertising is often misunderstood, with people relying on an intuitive 'Advertising doesn't effect me' view or swinging to the opposite extreme of the 'Sinister Advertisers Manipulate Consumers with their Mind Control Tricks' position. Both positions distract from the very real, but not magical, power of advertising.

The book has a great discussion of Wilson Bryan Key's Subliminal Seduction, the book that launched the idea that subliminal, and often sexual, figures are embedded in random features of adverts such as in ice cube shadows. The idea of these 'embeds' is nonsense, of course, but great fun to look for and a great distraction from the real persuasive content of the advert. The book also has a chapter on the origins of modern advertising practice in 19th century pharmaceutical advertising (the manufacturing of ailments for which ready made 'cures' can be sold has been covered by Vaughan on mindhacks.com before, in relation to the mental health). Packed with critical analysis of the advertising industry, more informative history and some shocking examples of how consumerism has worked its way into many aspects of our daily lives, this book is essential intellectual self-defense, managing to be critical and aware without ever being sanctimonious or hysterical.

Cross-posted at idiolect.org.uk

I didn’t believe this story was true at first — thought it had to be a spoof. But it turns out to be true. The great banks of the world have gone on a p.r. counteroffensive in Europe, and are sending spokescrooks in shiny suits into churches to persuade the masses that Christ would have approved of the latest round of obscene bonuses.

Goldman Sachs international adviser Brian Griffiths explains it this way: that Christ’s famous injunction to love others as one would love oneself actually means that one should love oneself as one would love oneself. This seemingly baffling outburst by a Goldman executive in what appears to have been a prepared speech — someone actually wrote this, and thought about it, before saying it out loud — gets even weirder when one tries to figure out what could possibly have motivated this person, and by extension his employer Goldman Sachs, to make such statements in such a place as St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Matt Taibbi: Goldman One-Ups Gordon Gekko, Says Jesus Embraced Greed

No Einstein in Your Crib? Get a Refund

By TAMAR LEWIN

“My impression is that parents really believe these videos are good for their children, or at the very least, not really bad for them,” Ms. Rideout said. “To me, the most important thing is reminding parents that getting down on the floor to play with children is the most educational thing they can do.”

A couple days ago I wrote about alternatives to buying new things, and someone replied on Twitter:

"I want to have the money to buy new things!"

Or something like that (I'm too lazy to go back and find the tweet). This echoes a pretty common sentiment: many people don't want to be frugal, to conserve, to be minimalist ... they want to buy new things.

Even those of us who try to be minimalists have these urges -- when Apple announced its new products yesterday, for example, I spent most of the day drooling, lusting after the large-screened iMac and the new wireless mouse. My pulse actually rises and I get a rush of adrenaline when I think about these new Apple products (even now, as I reflect on it, it's happening).

This lust is not unique to Apple fanbois like me -- we all feel it. We're all susceptible to advertising -- some people lust over new shoes, new clothes, new gadgets, new power tools, new cars, new homes, new bikes, new gourmet food, and so on. We all have our weaknesses, our lust triggers.

The key is to be aware of it. Notice the excitement, the raised heartbeat, the shallow breathing, the adrenaline rush that comes with the lust over a product. Notice the symptoms are very much like sexual arousal? It's practically the same -- and just like when we're sexually aroused, the rational part of our brains shut down. This shutting down is why we make stupid sexual decisions (why I have six kids, for example) even though we know better when we're not aroused.

So if we can't think rationally when we're aroused for new stuff, what should we do?

A few things:

1. Avoid advertising. That means shut off the cable TV, and either avoid television or watch via ad-free Tivo or Apple TV or something like that. It means stop reading ad-filled magazines and blogs, and focus on those that provide value without all the ads (or use ad-blockers on the Internet).

2. Avoid shopping. It's hard to avoid the lust when we're in a mall or Wallmart or some trendy store that has beautiful lustful stuff (i.e. the Apple Store for me). So don't go to those places if you can avoid it. Only go when absolutely necessary, know exactly what you're going to buy and only buy that.

3. When you do get the lust, be conscious of it. Take some deep breaths. Walk it off. Think about rational things, to engage your rational brain. For example, ask yourself questions: "Do I really need this? Can I do without it? Will I regret this later?"

4. Recognize rationalizing. There's a difference between rational thinking and rationalizing. Our brains are good at rationalizing: "This will actually save me money. This is necessary for my business. I deserve a treat now and then. I'm saving money if I buy two. Look how pretty!" Notice this thinking, and recognize it for what it is. And stop yourself when you do it.

5. Pause. You don't need to buy right away. Wait a day or two. Or a week. Do you need it right this second? Usually the answer is no. So wait, and wait, and wait some more. I've suggested the 30-day list. I used this method when I bought my bike recently -- I actually waited more than 6 months before buying it, because I wanted to be sure this was a real need.

So I'm not going to buy a new iMac, get a new mouse, or get the 17-inch Macbook Pro I've been drooling over for some time. I already have a great iMac and a great Macbook Air (which I'm typing on right now). I can wait until next year or later to get a new machine, because what I have right now is good enough. Better than good enough.

If what you already have is good enough, why upgrade? Why give in to the lust? Recognize that you're already happy, that advertising has created this desire in you, and that you can be content without it.

posted: 09 October 22
under: possessions

Do you feel overwhelmed by the abundance of life that you face daily? This can be a great thing, unless you are doing something you do not love. Managing life and all it’s intricacies can be done successfully by implementing minimalist perspectives to your daily life.

The minimalist lifestyle is far more than just reducing stuff. Sure, that is a distinctive part of being a minimalist, but developing the habits of a minimalist can improve each and every day.

4 Steps to a Minimalist Day

1. Wake up early and eat breakfast. Waking before everyone else allows you to organize your thoughts and most importantly BREATHE. When you are not stressed trying to get ready for your day, you are able to focus on preparing a positive day. Eating breakfast is monumental to having the necessary energy to be positive and productive.
2. Smile and say ‘No Worries’ all day. Making yourself smile may be annoying, but the more you develop this positive habit, the brighter you will view your day. Try saying ‘No Worries’ to any shortfall or downsize. The less you stress about all the problems you could stress about, the happier you will be. Minimalize gloom and stress and your day will be on the right path.
3. Don’t buy anything. Make your meals and snacks. Don’t shop online. Don’t buy anything on your route to and from anywhere. Try limiting your purchase or spending days to twice a week. You will live a healthier and budget-friendly life this way.
4. Enjoy silence. Take a stroll through the park after dinner. Sit on the porch watching the sunset. Do something that involves peace and no technology. Taking this moment at the end of the day to enjoy your surroundings. Silence will improve your thought process for living the life you want to be living.

These 4 steps are just a few that I implement. I believe they help me maintain a minimalist lifestyle that doesn’t involve demolishing a realistic lifestyle. So try and implement at least one of these in your week and see if you have benefited from it. I think the odds are you will.

Dave
The Minimalist Path

The reason advertising works on most of us is that we feel there is something missing, that if we could only do or have X we could be happier, that we need whatever happiness they're offering.

If instead we could find completeness, find happiness, find contentedness ... advertising wouldn't work. We'd say, "Thanks, but pass."

And here's the thing, of course (you knew this was coming): you already have all that.

You just need to realize it, and internalize it.

You have everything you need for happiness, right now. The typical desires for more money, a nicer house and car, nicer clothes and gadgets, a big-screen TV, a super-successful career or business, etc. ... none of that will get you happiness.

Happiness is simple pleasures, is spending time doing what you love and spending time with those you love. Happiness is realizing the world around us, no matter where we are, is a miracle, is beautiful and filled with sources of joy.

Do you have eyes? Then you have the tools to enjoy the sky, the water, greenery, people -- all miracles, all wonderful. Do you have ears? You have the tools to enjoy music, and laughter, and conversation. Do you have taste buds? You are blessed with a symphony of wonders, in berries and chocolate and popcorn and pure water and mint and chocolate chip cookies and spicy Thai food.

These are the tools for happiness. Use them, and realize you are blessed beyond belief.

Live life by appreciating every moment as a miracle, and you'll want for nothing. Appreciate the people around you, for the crazy complicated uniqueness they are, and you'll need no further entertainment.

You have it all. So when someone offers more, you can now say, "Thanks, but pass."

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.
- Lao Tzu