The real value of the 4-day work week

Erin McGee, 4 min read

Despite Keynes predicting that through technological advances we’d all be working 15 hours a week by 2030, (although, we’ve still got time!) people are working more hours than ever, under the guise that working longer and harder translates to higher output and greater success.

The evidence, however, doesn’t point in that same direction…

The way you work a compressed week doesn’t have to be as radical as Tim Ferriss’ 4 hour work week, but the regular 8 hours/5 days schedule makes a lot less sense than it did when it was first implemented a hundred years ago.

Technology has changed the way people work so drastically, it’s fair to argue that the conventional structure is somewhat redundant for today’s bright, motivated knowledge workers.

A few months ago Lachy explained why working a four day week works for Yarno. And still, it’s working.

Of course, as a startup getting ready to hit the big wide world, there’s a lot to be done. Meaning now sometimes tasks tick over to Fridays, but the flexibility that we’re such huge advocates for makes it a lot easier to tackle.

The benefits of working a schedule that suits you, and the type of work you do far outweigh its challenges — and the trick is to do it right (for you).

Here are the top 3 benefits of a flexible work-week:

1. More time!

We’re a population of time poor individuals. So of course the major draw card for the 4-day work week is freeing up this precious time, a whole extra day of the week!

I’d be surprised to hear of someone that wouldn’t jump at the chance to have 50% more weekend time to spend with family and friends. The best part is, that time doesn’t even have to be ‘made up’ somewhere else.

2. Increased productivity

The quote ‘when there’s less time to work, there’s less time to waste’ is so valid here (thanks, Jason Fried) — how often have you worked too close to deadlines, and found you’re more motivated (and in turn more productive) closer to the finish line?

Even better, more valuable work has been proven to happen in four days over five, as we learn to prioritise more effectively and get into our flow quicker (we’ll discuss a couple of productivity tools a bit further down).

And to quickly take it from a more economic based standpoint, there’s a little law called ‘diminishing marginal product’ which is usually used in a production context, but can be applied to the hours you work too.

The point where the work you do in the next hour/s are of less benefit to the ones that just went by is the point where you just need to stop.

3. Attracting and retaining talented workers

Developing a company culture that is flexible, dynamic and progressive is going to attract people that share the same values.

Being open to a 4-day work week, or any other sort of flexible work schedule is a point of distinction that can entice the best talent that really want to make a difference.

Employers are ‘giving’ their staff something of serious value — time. And in turn people are going to be more motivated to do their best work. The more we give to people, the more they give back.

This can have flow on effects to gaining more leads, better client satisfaction scores, higher revenue…

And what does that mean for costs? Lower turnovers. People that are treated as people (shocking), and not machines are going to want to stay in a job where their value is recognised and rewarded.

BUT! Yes, there’s a but.

Although the benefits are great, there are a few challenges (that can be overcome), so if you find yourself thinking any of the following:

But where am I going to find the extra hours!? Before really considering it, the math looks like:

“Instead of working 40 hours in 5 days… We just do 40 in 4? Or 3? There’s only 24 hours in a day!”

Again, it’s not all about the hours. Yes, that’s how it works for some, but it doesn’t have to work like that for everybody. It’s about working smarter on the tasks that matter the most.

Punching 10, 12, 14 hour days is going to take its toll eventually, and using the extra day off just to recover defeats its purpose in the first place! The burnout associated with long hours is real, and there are some serious consequences of working long hours everyday.

But it’s too hard to coordinate everyone!

This point is valid, and needs to be considered when aiming to work a flexible schedule. Managers have to be educated on how to make this sort of flexible work effective before incorporating it into their teams.At KPMG for example, staff looking for more flexibility communicate with their managers and their clients to determine a schedule that works best for everybody.

The company started the four-day week in 2009 to brace for the GFC downturn, but today they “look at flexibility as a strategic business tool” in a multinational company where nobody punches a clock.

Speaking of tools, now is probably a good time to talk about them.

At Yarno we’re all about collaboration. Sharing ideas, knowledge, learning. And now, with the abundance of resources and tools available, is the best time to do so. A few tools we use to make life a lot easier include Slack to battle e-mail overload, Trello for effective task management, and Dropbox and Paper for collaboration.

But that’s not the way my industry (company, team, etc.) works!

Change. We are all resistant to it. And there’s no arguing that organisational change is hard – really hard. But for almost every industry, there’s no use trying to fight it, as it’s what will drive your business and your intelligent, ambitious team forward.

If your work environment is a school, government or service industry that can’t have the whole team off on the same day, it may be more difficult to harmonise a schedule that works best. But it can be done, through staggered weeks (that is, some staff working Tuesday-Friday, others Monday-Thursday) or other kinds of flexible scheduling.

Communication and managing expectation is the crux of the whole idea of flexible work. Everybody has to be on the same page and be informed and involved in the process. Let yourself trial and error. However even if it turns out the four-day week isn’t for you, it hopefully would’ve at least got you thinking differently about the way you work.

So what are you doing this Friday?

Erin McGee

Erin McGee

Erin is an ever-trusty wordsmith and resident spreader of good vibes. You'll find her chatting up a storm in Mandarin, yelling kiai's at jujitsu and eating dark chocolate at 2pm sharp.

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