Four day work weeks please

I’m a big, big believer in the four day work week. I’ve been lucky enough to have brief periods with it (a few months at a time), and it’s honestly life changing.

Traditional thinking is that because employees have fewer hours to work that they’ll get less done, but it’s just not true. In reality what happens is that you’re laser focused on what you have to get done. You’re incentivized by the extra day off that awaits you – you wander less during the day and knock stuff out at an efficient pace. And because know you have an extra day off, you offload personal stuff to that day instead of interspersing it throughout the work week.

On top of that, you end the week in a giddy mood. Seriously. It’s hard to describe, but knowing that you have three straight days off completely changes your mindset and allows you to truly disconnect from work. Think about the last three days weekend you had – remember how good that felt compared to a normal weekend? You feel freer and lighter, with more time to concentrate on yourself and your family, not work. Now imagine having that every week.

And ultimately what’s good for employees is good for companies too. Employees are happier, less prone to burnout, resign at a lower rate, and simply do better work. For companies that all translates to higher productivity, better outcomes, and a major new incentive to help with recruiting and retaining talent that most places can’t match. Literally everyone wins.

If you want to be a truly progressive company and are looking for a competitive advantage on recruiting and retaining talent, it’s seriously worth a look.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.