Mayday on May Day: What’s in a name?
In many parts of the world, May 1st is known as May Day. And this year, I find myself reflecting on the origins of my previous startup, the product we were building, and the significance behind our name, Mayday.
Dating back to the late 19th century, workers in the U.S. and other industrialized countries were subjected to exhausting, prolonged workdays. But the Haymarket Affair of 1886, which involved a series of strikes and protests advocating for an 8-hour workday as the standard for all workers, marked a turning point.
May 1st, or “May Day” was ultimately designated as International Workers’ Day, commemorating the accomplishments of the labour movement and promoting workers’ rights, including fair working hours and improved working conditions. The word “mayday” is also rooted in the internationally recognized distress signal for help. Established as a universal call for assistance in the wake of WWI, it was derived from the French phrase “m’aider,” which translates to “help me.”
The concepts of work/life balance and providing help were central how we approached building software that helped people manage time across multiple time horizons. The name also playfully incorporated elements of time, with “May” signifying months, “Day” indicating days, and our URL, mayday.am, representing hours (as in AM/PM).
With its historical significance and origins as a distress signal, “Mayday” was clearly a fitting name that encapsulated the essence of what we’re building, the value we strive to deliver, and acknowledges the ongoing pursuit of a healthier balance between work and life.
Long before the name Mayday was even a consideration, the idea behind it was formed during my tenure at a health and fitness company called Precision Nutrition. PN offered a year-long coaching program, and we noticed that when participants failed to complete it, it wasn’t for lack of motivation or dedication; it was often because life simply got in the way. Unexpected events, such as travel, illness, or pressing work commitments, threw their schedules off course, and the technology that supported the program wasn’t designed to adapt to these changes.
Years later, I found myself working at Facebook in Menlo Park. As I observed my team, I recognized a familiar pattern: we were all drowning in meetings, struggling to carve out time for actual work, and often needing to put in extra hours after work to get things done. Burnout wasn’t uncommon, and it seemed like everyone was juggling an impossible load, desperately trying to make time for what truly mattered each week.
That’s when it became clear that there had to be a better way, and I was certain that a smarter calendar was the way to solve this problem. And so, Mayday was born.
Originally published on Medium, but republished here as I consolidate my writing on a self-hosted platform.