China News Service, April 6 (BBC) Chinese website reported on the 5th that during the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, many people were forced to stay at home, and the boundaries between workdays and weekends that people are used to have become more and more blurry.
Under normal circumstances, some external factors determine people's regular work and rest, such as the time children go to school, the time adults go to work and meetings, and the train schedule. Once these external factors disappear, people around the world must decide for themselves Time for work and rest.
On April 1, local time, a huge banner projected by lights appeared on the iconic Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, calling for "hope and unity" in the epidemic. The picture shows the Italian flag on the top of Matterhorn.
Chaney Kourouniotis, who works in Seattle, USA, said that although she works from home now, she still wakes up at a fixed time every morning and starts working at a fixed time according to the previous model. Sleepiness is only reserved for weekends.
The same is true for people with children at home. They must also try to follow the school schedule at home. Emily Seftel, who works in Paris, France, and his husband took turns taking care of his six-year-old son. They set a rule about the weekend, that is, at the weekend, she and her husband can have three hours for themselves. In this way, they especially look forward to the weekend.
Social norms
Why have weekends? Katrina Onstad, author of "The Weekend Effect: The Benefits of Rest", said that the earth rotates 24 hours a week and the revolution is a year, but seven days a week is a social norm rather than a natural law.
She said that working five days a week and taking two days off was gradually determined after the Great Depression of the 1930s. At that time, the industry that had not taken 40 hours a week to shorten the work hours in order to reduce losses. In 1938, U.S. legislation incorporated law into the law that working hours should not exceed 40 hours per week.
However, the current crisis in the epidemic may change the laws that have remained unchanged for a long time.
In Brussels, Belgium, local resident Cathou and her children displayed in front of the window items that were significant to themselves during the period of the anti-epidemic at home.
Maintain regularity
Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale University, said that one of the challenges posed by the current situation is that people's usual schedules are completely disrupted.
He said: "Humans are habitual animals. When we work and when we rest, it is regular. This helps us to reduce the sense of uncertainty."
Brad Beaven, a history professor at Portsmouth University, said that even before the emergence of the new coronavirus epidemic, working remotely via the Internet, the self-employed and gig economy have made a big change in the traditional concept of working hours. "Interestingly, home segregation allows people to determine their working hours to some extent."
On March 30 local time, the Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt, was illuminated, and words were printed on the tower to encourage people to stay at home and keep a distance for everyone's health.
Maintain normalcy
How the society as a whole adapts to change remains to be seen, but for individuals, maintaining a certain degree of work and rest law is an effective way to reduce uncertainty and pressure when facing an epidemic crisis.
The current situation is that many people are forced to stay at home or work at home, avoid all unnecessary trips, cannot meet relatives, friends and colleagues, cannot go to school, and at the same time have to get between work, family and assisting children to go to school at home balance.
The fact is that there are too many things that people cannot control. Maintaining a certain degree of work and rest laws to ensure that time is still felt is arguably the only thing we can control under the epidemic crisis.