I relate to the bedraggled Barbie

I’m not sure who her design was based on, but it was definitely not a 40-plus-year-old single mother of three teenagers, who has a lot to do domestically, but also too many hobbies and a busy social life.

Anyone in the same boat will know that some days you’re productive as heck, surprising even yourself with what you can achieve in 24 hours.

And others, you just don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere, despite your best efforts.

So, when I saw an amusing image of a bedraggled looking Barbie sporting a shabby haircut, matted in parts, mismatched lengths in others, smudged make-up and widened, overwhelmed looking eyes, I think I related to her for the first time ever.

Then I read the caption on the meme: “Returning to work after a refreshing two days of cleaning the house, grocery shopping and doing laundry,” and I related to her wholeheartedly.

I laughed, but it got me thinking about how, even though I love my work, I’ve always taken on that whole working to live stance, as opposed to the living to work angle.

In past lives, I’ve worked for bosses who’ve insinuated that perhaps someone shouldn’t have gone to that concert on the weekend because that’s where they picked up that bug that made them need a day off on Wednesday when they fell sick.

Or if anyone yawned on a Monday, they “joked” about not using the weekend to rest so they were ready for another week at work.

Most of us work full-time from the age of 18 until we retire at 65 or older, with just four weeks annual leave each year in most industries.

That’s 47 of the best years of our lives. I’ll be damned if I’m dedicating my weekends to recovering and preparing from and for the past and next five days of work.

This four-day work week idea really appeals to me.

One extra day off each week would allow a whole day for leisure if the other two have to be used for “cleaning the house, grocery shopping and doing laundry”, like that bedraggled Barbie resented.

We cannot split seven days of a week evenly, but four days on and three off is at least a little more balanced.

I’m not looking to drop hours. My lifestyle wouldn’t cope with the accompanying pay cut, but I’d gladly work a couple of extra hours on each of those four days for the luxury of a three-day weekend every week.

After a whirlwind couple of months of parties, events and appointments, the light at the end of the tunnel finally filled the opening.

I arrived at a weekend with nowhere to be and nothing that had to be done.

I can rest, I thought, sparing a thought for that old boss who’d be proud of me for using the weekend for such a sensible activity.

On Friday night I thought I’d write myself a little to-do list of some things I’d like to get done while I had the time, fully believing once I got through it, I’d then kick back and relax.

The items ranged from near-necessity – cleaning the toilets, mowing lawns, weeding gardens – to getting some exercise now my back is finally starting to come good –walking up Mt Major, walking my dog, doing my osteopath-ordered exercises – to creative wants – planting a new garden, writing a chapter of a book, baking bread and cakes – to, of course, spending time with the kids – hiking with one, playing pool with another, getting a driving lesson in with another.

By the time I’d finished writing the list, there were 27 items on it.

By the time the weekend was over, I’d ticked every single item off.

By the time I’d ticked every single item off, I was out of weekend. There was no time left to kick back and relax.

I was sore and tired, and, while an old boss might have been tut-tutting me the next day, I was patting myself on the back.

Sure, I still didn’t get the rest I was craving, but to plough through so much left me feeling so accomplished.

Maybe it wasn’t rest I craved anyway, maybe it was just a reset at home that I needed.

Whatever it was, I still didn’t come out the other end looking like the well-manicured Barbie with her perfect hair and painted nails – mine were dirty and more chipped from carting rocks.

But even though I looked like the bedraggled version, it came with a peaceful satisfaction of achieving all those things that I just can’t manage on work days.

Imagine how much easier it would be with a third weekend day every week.