Welcome to “Another Important Piece of Writing” a weekly newsletter/life update/writing exercise/rant/potenially the next most important piece of literature from the 21st century but probably not.
Every couple of weeks I feel like I see another article about how some European country is trialling a 4 day work week, and then never hearing anything about it ever again. Maybe the onus is on me to follow it up but I’M BUSY!
I love the idea, obviously. Plus, after watching my old roommate work from home and manage to just skate by doing the absolutely bare minimum each day while still filling his job requirements and raking in a full time wage, it’s obvious that most people’s work can actually be completed in 4 days (if that).
My only concern really is that the notion of a 4 day work week has only ever really been suggested for those in office work environments, whereas every other type of work has been seemingly neglected. I don’t want to take away from the importance of not making people work more than they have to where possible, but it does have an air of elitism for those who can’t or don’t have such cushy jobs.
I don’t know if it would be possible to see areas like hospitality, healthcare, trades or any other labour intensive jobs take on a 4 day work week. Unlike office jobs the work can’t be quantified on a week to week basis because there are no deadlines or target dates; the work never really stops. The only way I can see it working is by adding more staff to these sectors to lighten the load, but they’re already understaffed, underfunded and constantly neglected due to their working class, blue collar nature. Yucky, poor people!!!
Don’t get me wrong, I always think it’s cool when I see a new country trialling the system out. It’s a step forward in governments acknowledging citizens as people (crazy, right?) and acknowledging faults in our ever crumbling, dogshit system – I just want a piece of the action!
To be fair, I only work 3 days a week by choice. I thought it was for my mental health and the fact that I want to focus more on comedy and writing (which is true), but I also think it’s just due to the fact I don’t want work my ass off making money for somebody else, or contribute any more to capitalism than I have to. I don’t have any extremist views on this that I’m about to unwittingly spew at you with force – I’m just a tired little dude!
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I’m using TikTok again, sue me!
I’ve just gone through a very stressful period and am back into some not great habits. I’ve put ‘staring at a screen for 2 hours in bed because I’m too tired and anxious to do anything else that I actually like doing’ down as a ‘self-soothing practice’ but realistically, I gotta stop.
Right now TikTok is trying to convince me I have ADHD (a classic), but also Autism which is interesting. None of the content I watch about Autism reflects anything I do or have ever done, but you see enough of it and know how well your phone knows you, the mind does wander.
I’ve been in therapy on and off since I was about 12 years old, and while that has helped me immensely, unfortunately some of the best nuggets of advice have come from TikTok. Most of the time it is from actual registered physicians whose TikTok’s centre around giving this type of advice, but the most infuriating is when it’s just some girl telling us something her psych told her that she felt like sharing!
It always makes me think, out of all the doctors I’ve had WHY DIDN’T THEY TELL ME THIS!?
Also,
WHY ARE SOME BETTER THAN OTHERS, DON’T YOU ALL LEARN THE SAME SHIT!?!?
It’s not just therapy advice, I also follow a pelvic floor specificalist, a horticulturalist, a dermatologist – all people I wouldn’t have regular access to because I simply don’t have the means to do so. Even though most of what I consume on Tik Tok is mind numbing clout-chasing rubbish, I can’t deny that there is a portion of it that’s actually pretty helpful!
I suppose when enough people come together and start having a conversation SOMETHING useful is going to come up and for that reason, unfortunately, I think I will always have a spot for TikTok. (That and the sweet, sweet bright coloured, tailor-made just for me distraction portal that helps me to ignore the void – yum yum yum yum yum yum!)
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One of the most upsetting things I’ve realised about being sober is that it hasn’t made me immune to doing dumb shit. It turns out I am just as capable of being a fucking idiot and completely ruining my own life Stone. Cold. Sober.
The only real difference between being drunk and sober is that now when I wake up every morning I remember every single dumb thing I’ve said and done in chronological order, with beautiful 4K visuals and surround sound.
To be fair, I haven’t really done anything too crazy, it’s just upsetting to know I have absolutely nothing or nobody to blame if I do. The most cringe thing that I’ve had to deal with that most resembles what it’s like waking up thinking “wtf happened last night!” is when I send out thirsty late night “wyd?” messages. I no longer get impaired by alcohol, but turns out I am still not impervious to horniness.
I’m very lucky, blessed some may say, to only attract and engage people who are either: completely emotionally or physically unavailable, think women are only interested in dating or simply are not as addicted to instagram as much as me. Thanks to the glorious, wonderful invention that is the ‘unsend’ feature, I’ve thankfully been able to remove most evidence of thirstiness from the timeline and regain some sembelance of dignity.
Slut mode, deactivated.
Chill girl mode, reinstated.
Nobody will ever know.
Anyways, here’s an idea I had for a dall-e picture that didn’t quite turn out. Tag yourself, I’m bottom middle because it looks like he has both a revolver and a gymnastics ribbon. Get you a man whose ready for any and all situations!
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