Having Labor Day just passed, I don’t think there was anyone that did not enjoy the long weekend. Whether it was relaxing, sleeping or catching up on work, students took advantage of the extra 24 hours without classes. Fortunately, for me, this is what every week is like. When scrolling through the hundreds of options of how I wanted my school schedule to look, I immediately gravitated towards the 4-day one. I knew that getting all of my classes out of the way Monday through Thursday would be worth the benefits associated with a 3-day weekend.
Health: Coming from a girl that takes about 5 naps a day, I can say that having a day to catch up sleep is so important. After four days of forcing myself out of bed, finally being able to get the proper amount of sleep benefits me not only physically, but mentally as well. In addition to feeling energized, I wake up feeling refreshed and destressed. This is so vital at a time when there are so many things that we, as college students, spend time worrying about.
School: If there is one thing that I definitely struggle with it is time management. I’d be lying if I said I did my homework consistently every night. Nope not me. Instead I somehow always manage to procrastinate, leaving assignments to stack up. The extra day of no classes presents the opportunity to get work out of the way or catch up if behind. Not having to worry about these things over the course of Saturday and Sunday is the best feeling.
Don’t just take my word for it; The article, “Should We All Be On the Four-Day Workweek”, highlights the increase in quality and quantity of the work performed by those with a four-day week. Whether it is a job or school, just one more day of the weekend can generate numerous advantages. Next time you find yourself putting together your class schedule, take yourself and your work into account, and consider choosing to have one less day.
I think I am going to try and do my schedule like this in the spring because I’m always saying that I need an extra day to just catch up on work and sleep. I think everyone in america would benefit from having a four day work week. I’ve read somewhere that other countries work on a similar schedule but there time off comes from being encouraged to take vacations and having shorter work weeks. But here in the US we work a whole lot more than other countries and our health suffers as a result. The Huffington post does and article on the health benefits of shorter work weeks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/healthline-/the-health-benefits-of-a_b_10246982.html
I am so glad to see so much feedback on a post of which the topic I take very seriously. Your mental and physical health is just as important as school, and we all too often forget this. If anyone would like even more detail on the benefits of a shorter school week, you should check out http://oureverydaylife.com/advantages-four-day-school-week-14691.html, though this addresses pros in elementary/high schools, there are a lot of connections that can be made to college students as well.
I definitely agree that there are many benefits to 3 day weekends. I often try to schedule at most 2 classes on Fridays, to allow me the opportunity to catch up on work before the weekend. If the entire university switched to a 3-day schedule though, I wonder how many students would actually use the extra 24 hours to study. I honestly feel that many would just use the time to daylong for an extra day. Personally I see a lot of benefits to 4 day weeks, I just wonder how it would actually work out. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I’m so jealous of your schedule. I have 8am 4 days a week, including Monday, and class on all five days. Please, let’s switch?
Anyway, this article reminds me of this one: ** https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/backgrounder-later-school-start-times ** According to the website sleepfoundation.org (author unknown), starting school at a later time would be beneficial to students. It makes paying attention easier, which is one of the largest parts of learning. Plus, not getting enough sleep can lead to depression, a serious matter at any age, but especially in adolescents.
Penn State should take a page from that article and ban 8ams.
I think I am going to try and do my schedule like this in the spring because I’m always saying that I need an extra day to just catch up on work and sleep. I think everyone in america would benefit from having a four day work week. I’ve read somewhere that other countries work on a similar schedule but there time off comes from being encouraged to take vacations and having shorter work weeks. But here in the US we work a whole lot more than other countries and our health suffers as a result. The Huffington post does and article on the health benefits of shorter work weeks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/healthline-/the-health-benefits-of-a_b_10246982.html
It’s funny you posted about this because this year seems to be the year that literally every single one of my friends have THE best schedule. But no, it’s not a 3 day weekend for them- it’s a FOUR DAY WEEKEND. They don’t have any classes scheduled on Fridays or Mondays which is just- wow. But I am definitely interested in if having Friday’s off would be a better option. Last year I took IO Psychology which is basically Psychology applied to a work setting, and something I remember going over is having a Friday off every other week because you work like an hour or two extra. It seems like an awesome deal because most people end up staying and hour later at work anyways! My brother interned in Maryland this summer and he had that type of schedule and it was great because every other weekend he could come home and we never get to see him! Maybe I will make my schedule like yours next semester. I do have to ask you though- are those four days too stressful then? Since you probably have at least like what, four classes a day? I can barely do three- so I am curious about that!
I actually might look into scheduling my spring semester like you did. Three day weekends are seriously some of the highlights of the academic calendar for me, even if it does just mean spending that third day doing little to nothing. Your post made me think of the academic calendar as a whole and how it changes from region to region. I had heard of other countries implementing year-round school into their education systems, but I didn’t realize that the United States actually has schools that run year-round. At first, the idea disgusted me–why on earth would I want to give up an entire summer of freedom? But then I looked into some of the benefits of the system and realized that the concept isn’t a terrible idea. Here’s an article that talks about some of the benefits: http://education.seattlepi.com/yearround-school-advantages-disadvantages-2521.html
I don’t see year-round school happening universally any time soon, but if it was implemented, I have a feeling that more 3-day weekends would be a result!