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Four hundred and fifty years ago, that “Man for All Seasons,” Sir Thomas More, in his “Utopia,” envisaged a six hour working day.1
One hundred and thirty years ago, the British Parliament moved towards this Utopian ideal by proposing a ten-hour working day for a six-day week. Richard Cobden, then a great friend of labor, voted against this ten-hour day because he feared that the consequent idleness would lead to serious trouble.
Four years ago, economists, before the United States Senate, predicted that the next fifteen years will see a four to five hour working day, a twenty-two hour work week, a twenty-seven-week work year, retirement at thirty-seven, or some combination of these patterns.1a
After centuries of immersion in a work ethic, where all education has been through the world of work and for the world of work, and where there has been no education for life off the job, the rapid increase of unprecedented amounts of free time has suddenly confronted us with an adaptation problem. We have been caught unprepared. Consequently, we can expect a great number of individuals who cannot adapt to and enjoy the abundance of free time now at their disposal. This manifests itself in complaints similar to the following, which came unsilicited and spontaneously from various individuals within a few months of my social and psychiatric experience.
“Just sitting around gets on my nerves.” “When I have nothing to do, I get depressed and irritable.” “I am bored and uneasy — don't know what to do with myself.” “I hate weekends and Sundays.” “I can't relax on my days off.” “I get tense and anxious doing nothing.” “I have to keep busy or I'd go crazy.” “Work takes my mind off myself.” “I can't stand doing nothing.” “On holidays, I'm a wet blanket and a spoil sport.” “I am afraid of the freedom of vacations.” “The unhappiest things are these big stretches of time.” “I make bird boxes and bird feeders for everybody in the neighborhood. I hate it, but it keeps me busy.” Then the followi