An article about Iceland’s nationwide shift to a four-day workweek paints a compelling picture of how systemic change can influence not just productivity and job satisfaction, but overall health, social connection, and collective well-being. From an interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, this kind of structural shift has profound implications for the nervous system individually and societally.
At its core, Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) explores how our brains and bodies are shaped by experience, especially within relationships and environments. A chronic state of stress–like the one many people endure in a culture of overwork–affects the brain’s ability to regulate, connect, and thrive. When time is constantly scarce, when every week is a race toward some elusive “catching up,” the nervous system remains in a state of chronic mobilization or collapse. This undermines core capacities like curiosity, empathy, and self-reflection.
In Iceland, shortening the workweek without reducing pay interrupted this pattern. It gave people more time for rest, caregiving, creative pursuits, and simply being. That space matters. From an IPNB lens, more time to regulate means more time in the social engagement system, the part of our nervous system that allows us to feel safe with others, to co-regulate, to play, and to engage meaningfully. It enables people to downshift from survival states into more integrated functioning.
Cutting back work hours resulted in greater job satisfaction, sustained or improved productivity, reduced burnout, and better work-life balance. These are indicators of improved nervous system health on a societal level. When people aren’t chronically depleted, they become more available to each other. They parent better. They show up in their communities differently. They move through the world with more capacity and less reactivity.
In a country like the United States, where work and identity are deeply entwined and we have been indoctrinated to believe we must earn our worth through endless productivity, such a shift would be seismic. But it would also be regulating. Imagine a culture where people are not constantly in a state of physiological threat because of financial insecurity, sleep deprivation, and overcommitment. Imagine what would be possible in terms of healing, connection, and collective care if people had time for neighbors, rest, noticing what their bodies need, and participating in life beyond survival.
The Icelandic achievement disrupts the myth that nonstop productivity is the only way to matter. It illustrates that systems shape nervous systems. When systems prioritize sustainability and relational health, people do better mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially.
Iceland shows us what happens when a whole country gives its nervous systems a little more room to breathe. The question for America is: how much longer can we afford to run on empty?
This post includes content generated by ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI. The AI-generated content has been reviewed and edited for accuracy and relevance.
