JOHN Maynard Keynes famously predicted that by 2030 we could be working just 15 hours a week.

Technological advances and a huge rise in living standards may have finally solved the age-old "economic problem", he said.

Instead, mankind would be faced "with his real, his permanent problem – how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well".

Nine decades on from the economist’s enticing vision, it's fair to say things are not looking promising.

A great shame, because three hours of toil a day would probably suit me just fine, actually.

I could spend my ample leisure time on the things that really matter, such as refreshing my Twitter feed and looking stuff up on Wikipedia.

Amid the grief and upheaval, the pandemic has reignited an important debate about the future of work and its place in our lives.

Take the idea of a four-day working week, which recently hit the headlines again when the PCS union, which represents civil servants, called on the Scottish Government to "lead the way" on the issue.

The think-tank Autonomy said a poll of more than 2,000 Scottish Government employees showed 87 per cent supported the exploration of a four-day week.

Just 4% were opposed, and the vast majority (84%) believed they could “adapt their work processes in order to suit a shorter working week”.

Autonomy’s report suggested the Scottish Government would be “seen as a pioneer in setting new working time standards for the Scottish economy”.

The union's call is a smart move. 

Nicola Sturgeon has spoken of the need to look at different working patterns in the aftermath of the pandemic.

"Things like a four-day week are no longer things that we should just be talking about, these are things we should be encouraging employers to look at embracing, and there are a whole range of things that fall into that category," the First Minister said last year.

If the Government is serious about the idea, why not start with its own staff? 

Ahead of the Holyrood election in May, the SNP pledged to establish a £10 million fund to allow companies to pilot and explore the transition to a four-day week. 

With reports that Ms Sturgeon is on the brink of signing a cooperation deal with the Greens in Holyrood, it is also worth noting the Greens' manifesto backed the transition to a four-day week with no loss of pay. 

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour's said it would "promote pilot schemes to reduce the length of the working week", so there is a sizeable majority of MSPs willing to explore change.

Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour sought to reduce the average working week to 32 hours within the next decade.

A report on how to achieve shorter working hours by Lord (Robert) Skidelsky, commissioned by the party and published in 2019, makes for fascinating reading.

Over the last 150 years, the economic historian said, working hours in industrialised countries have almost halved. But since the 1980s, they have "stagnated". 

He said the state should take the lead in moving the economy to shorter working hours.

Of course, there are plenty of critics who question the wisdom of a four-day week. 

Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, previously said that while such a move might suit some businesses, it would be "difficult or impossible" for others.

Last year, the Scottish Tories insisted it would cost Scottish public services more than £2.5 billion a year.

But whether or not this particular measure is judged feasible or desirable, the pandemic has offered a renewed opportunity to think seriously about the future of work.

Platitudes about gaining a fresh perspective on what really matters should probably be viewed with the same polite scepticism applied to New Year's resolutions.

Nevertheless, coronavirus has caused massive disruption to our working lives and that could kickstart wider change.

The debate around home working is an obvious example. For many, the days of commuting to the office five days a week are over.

And yet Chancellor Rishi Sunak was undoubtedly correct when he said physically being in an office is valuable for a young person's career.

Many businesses will try to strike a balance, but these things are tricky. 

Another big unknown is the impact on city centres of any shift away from the office.

Autonomy's research found more than half (52%) of Scottish Government staff are unhappy with the amount of free time they currently have, while almost two thirds (63%) said they do not have enough time to carry out caring responsibilities for family members or within their local community.

I doubt they are alone in that.

In his bestselling book Utopia for Realists, the Dutch popular historian Rutger Bregman writes that "reduction of work first has to be reinstated as a political ideal" if change is to occur.

Let's hope the debate around the future of work stays in the political spotlight. We owe it to ourselves to try to live wisely and agreeably and well, however we define that.