Making time to be present is never, ever a bad thing. Being grounded in the time of ‘now’ brings everything else into sharp focus. You sense things going on around you. You become more aware of what you’re doing. You realise that time is not the cause of your urgency; it’s your constant worries about the future. These were some of the reflections and musings that I had while hiking in New Zealand in November last year.
I had a great online chat with a dear friend earlier last year. We shared what we’d do with our time if we could just let go of the grind for a while. Not be as worried about money, costs, politics, power, stubbornness, and ignorance. I mentioned that it had been on my list for a long time to hike the southern parts of New Zealand, especially around Milford Sound. I probably walked right into my friend’s plan, because he then said that unless I booked that trip, he would never speak to me again. I knew he was serious.
I ended up spending 10 days hiking around Queenstown, Te Anau, Wanaka, and Lake Tekapo, which included time at the Fiordland National Park. In a lovely bit of timing, my brother also decided to join me. We had never travelled much together, and it made the experience all the more incredible and insightful. I could go into great detail about the adventures of these hikes; maybe another time. But it was on our walk through the forests near Milford that I realised that I had been grounded in the present for the past 4 days. Time felt like it had stopped. I wasn’t thinking about anything else other than being absorbed in my surroundings and the presence of my brother. It made me quite emotional about the choices we make about how we spend our time. It was the first point where I articulated that perhaps I should move to part-time.
Fast-forward to April 2026, and I was travelling through Japan with my family. I was having those same reflections and moments of being locked in the present. I shared some details about these moments in my post on ‘Attention to detail‘. As someone who has worked full-time for 30 years, I was again questioning whether I should give more time to myself, my interests, my friends and family, and my bucket list. When I returned to work, I made the call and switched to 4 days a week.
Perhaps the two biggest concerns were obvious. One was earning less money. The other was what many had warned me about: ‘you’ll end up doing 5 in 4’. Working the equivalent of 5 days in 4 days. So here’s my take: The money situation is definitely an ongoing worry. But over the last couple of months, I keep asking myself whether I would have preferred the full-time wage or the time I’ve spent doing other things that feed my sense of connection and presence. Most times the answer to myself is that the sacrifice of the money is worth it. When I feel torn, I see it as feedback that I need to make better use of my time, not swing back to full-time.
Perhaps because I had laid out some clear plans for myself on how I wanted to make use of the time, I have yet to feel the pull of ‘5 days in 4’. I have been involved in a lot of events over the last 2 months, so that’s another factor in why I get to Friday and feel completely ready to detach and refocus. I certainly find that I get to Sunday and feel settled and ready to get back into work. Having a 0.8-work week has also made my work more focused on getting done what I need to get done. It has actually pushed me to feel more urgent at work and less pressured at home, which is almost the reverse of what it used to be like. I think that might be one of the most important shifts in this move.
I don’t know yet if I’ll make the move back to full-time. It might be when the next role emerges. It might be when needing more money demands it. Either way, they act as checks on how I use the time I have now. I don’t take it for granted, and I realise I am very lucky to be able to make these choices. As I move into my 50’s, I become ever more aware of time and the adventures I give myself, my family, and my friends. Weirdly, it’s not the sense of urgency driving me, but the meaning and purpose of what I do.
Maybe we were never meant to have 5 days of work and 2 days off; 4 days of work and 3 days off feels closer to having balance. Because when everything else feels like a tipping point, bringing your own world back into balance makes the present the most important decision of all.
