Happy Monday, and welcome back to work! You’re already behind.
Not to be mean, but while you were spending the weekend resting up, some of your colleagues were locking in.
A growing number of white-collar workers are putting in a few hours on their off days, writes BI’s Amanda Hoover. And while it’s not a massive number (one analysis pegged the number at 5%), it’s on the rise (that figure rose 9% from 2023 to 2024).
Before you get out your pitchforks about protecting your precious work-life balance, understand these weekend warriors are sort of on your side.
It’s more for their own benefit than any crazy workload. The people Amanda spoke to didn’t position weekend work as a burden. Instead, they said they loved their jobs and found the extra hours offered them more flexibility during the week.
I know some of you are still disgusted reading this. (Voluntarily working on the weekend! What kind of corporate shill are you?) But think of it as the weekend working for you.
It’s like dieting. You could eat healthy all week and then crash out on the weekends, or enjoy a healthy diet all week long with some treats sprinkled in along the way.
It’s only fair I disclose my bias: I crack open the work laptop on the occasional Sunday.
Some of it is due to the nature of my job. How else do you expect an up-to-date Monday morning newsletter to get built?
(Having a fantastic editor in the UK helps. Cheers, Hallam Bullock, I couldn’t do it without you!)
But even before I was living in your inbox every morning, I’d check in for a few cheeky hours on a Saturday or Sunday.
As brutal as it is to give up some free time for work, it’s a calculated move. Doing some work on Sunday can hopefully lead to an easier week ahead.
The keyword there: hopefully.
That calculation only works if you actually find yourself able to log off at a reasonable time during the week. Corporate America can be much more of a taker than a giver. And if you’re not careful, your weekend warrioring might just make you available to take on even more work during the week.
It’s that kind of cycle that can lead to burnout, and we know how that story ends.
It reminds me of advice I got one summer doing maintenance work at a college. Keen to make a good impression, I quickly started changing the air conditioner filters assigned to us. It wasn’t long before my boss stopped me with a solemn face.
“Slow down, Dan. They’ll always find new work for you.”
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