You know the feeling when you didn’t realize that Friday is off, but now it is, so technically Monday is Tuesday, and Tuesday is Wednesday, and Wednesday is Thursday, and then… the week is already over? 

Well, you may have noticed that November seems to have every other day off, with hardly any full weeks. If you haven’t, then feel free to check; it’s true! Either way, I’m here to argue that this is not a flaw, but a well-deserved–and necessary–break. In fact, I don’t think it would be too bad if every month were like this.

Let’s be honest. Pretty much every student loves having a day off. Extra rest and extra time for homework feels like a reward instead of a given.Yes, please! For those of you who don’t agree, you might be arguing that this gives us less time to work–obviously, with a shorter week come fewer classes. Well, let me convince you that shorter weeks are superior to regular weeks in every way, especially when they happen several times in one month. 

If you’ve been going to school for more than one day, you know that most “class work” ends up being homework, lunch work, and, well, all day work that you need to cram at the last minute.

We’ve all stayed up late, and we’ve all pulled all-nighters at least once (…right?). Even though November doesn’t have a long scheduled break like summer or winter break, you might’ve noticed that your stress levels go down, and, if you’re lucky, your sleep hours go up proportionally. This is no coincidence.

You see, with just one extra day added to the weekend, like Monday or Friday, we gain many benefits. Not only do you gain an extra day to do homework, but you also get a shorter week, giving you less schoolwork in the first place. If you think about it, three day weekends make perfect sense; one day to rest, one day to work, and one day to do other things, like hang out with your friends. Plus, one extra morning to sleep in! 

“Okay, but with four day weeks, we don’t get all our lessons finished on time!” To that point, I say, school years and curriculums are planned to be finished after 180 school days. What’s the harm in splitting them up a little differently so your brain has more time to rest? 

Not only do months like November help you catch up on much-needed sleep, they also let you enjoy activities you’d otherwise never have time for, let you actually study for tests (ChatGPT the night before doesn’t count), and give you time to productively do homework.

For any teachers reading this, wouldn’t you be lying if you said you didn’t like the extra day off? Yeah, that’s what I thought. At the end of the day, the rest you get during November should speak for itself. Months with more days off don’t hurt education; they help it! Just like working out, you need rest days after a long week of learning, and two-day weekends don’t cut it. •