what is the best way to create a 4 10 hour day work schedule for 7 days
The truth near compressed workweeks, according to people who've done it
A candid look at the pros and cons of a iv-day workweek, plus existent-globe tips for pulling information technology off.
5-second summary
- A compressed workweek generally ways working iv days instead of five.
- This schedule may involve working fewer total hours each calendar week or shifting your regular piece of work hours to a four-mean solar day menstruation, e.k., working four 10-hour days.
- Succeeding with this schedule requires shut coordination with teammates, as well equally personal and professional person stakeholders.
What if three-24-hour interval weekends were the default? That's a "new normal" many of us would really welcome!
Switching to a four-day work schedule, often referred to as a "compressed workweek," is one way to do it. And in example you haven't noticed, four-solar day workweeks are a hot topic lately. As workers of all stripes report always-college rates of exhaustion and employers grapple with The Great Resignation, both groups are looking at non-traditional schedules with keen involvement.
A handful of pioneering companies like Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand financial services business firm, even standardize on a 32-hour weekwithout any reduction in pay.They point to enquiry showing that many workers are able to deliver on a total workload in fewer hours by cutting downwardly on low-value tasks and water cooler chit-chat. (My own team here at Atlassian tried information technology for two months and nosotros institute this to be true!)
However, a compressed workweek isn't a not bad fit for anybody. To succeed with this schedule, you lot'll need to start with a petty soul-searching, follow up with a persuasive proposal to your boss, and and then work similar you lot've never worked before – a combination of working smarter and working harder.
Is a compressed workweek right for yous?
Working 4 10-hour days each calendar week, resulting in an extra mean solar day off, is the nigh mutual approach. (This is known every bit a "4×10 schedule.") Determining whether it tin can work for yous is partly about your chore function, partly about who you lot are and your lifestyle.
For starters, how do y'all programme to employ the additional 24-hour interval off? For my colleague Lisa, a fellow member of the finance team at Atlassian, the answer was like shooting fish in a barrel: "More fourth dimension with my kids earlier they started kindergarten. Simply now that they're in school, it's a day for 'life admin tasks' so I tin fully savour Sabbatum and Sunday." Or perhaps your goal is to create space for travel, a passion project, or that side-hustle you've been pondering. That's a good sign. Without a stiff sense of purpose, it may be hard to muster the stamina required for working 10-hour days week in, week out.
Your job role matters, too. Customer service and like queue-based roles can be catchy (though not impossible) to re-shape effectually a compressed work schedule because service level agreements assume consistent staffing levels throughout the week. Similarly, a managing director or VP who touches practically every project in flight may notice it difficult to shift to a four-24-hour interval week without becoming a bottleneck for the entire organization.
Then at that place are your personal commitments and lifestyle outside of the office. Will you still be able to juggle childcare option-ups and drib-offs? Commute home in time for family dinner (assuming you're commuting at all)? Stay sane with fewer hours to recharge after those long days? You owe it to yourself to be brutally honest as you consider questions like these.
Pros and cons associated with a 4-day schedule
| Benefits | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| An extra day off each week, with no reduction in pay. | Powering through longer workdays may not be as easy as you anticipate. |
| Less time spent commuting, especially if the longer days hateful you'll be commuting outside peak hours. | Potential difficulty managing childcare drop-offs and pick-ups if y'all commute. A potentially chaotic environment when kids are around if you work from habitation. |
| Using the extra time off for appointments and errands means you'll be more focused and productive during your work hours. | You'll need to coordinate closely with teammates to ensure piece of work isn't at a stand-still on the days yous're off. |
Some things to consider before making the pitch
If you plan on seriously pursuing a compressed workweek, it's important to show that y'all've really thought through the following things:
- Which days you lot will work what your working hours will be
- Whether and how you can be reached on your off-day if there'south an emergency (also, what qualifies as an "emergency" in your mind)
- How you envision shuffling and sharing responsibilities with your teammates
- How this alter can have a positive impact on the team
That last point is of import. Volition this arrangement boost your focus, free energy, and/or creativity? Will you lot take fewer advert-hoc days off? Will teammates take the opportunity to larn a new skill past sharing a responsibleness that is now exclusively yours? Your proposal volition be better received if information technology's non all about you.
Another colleague, Jenny, a product director, proposed switching as an experiment, which helped ease her manager'due south concerns. "We did it on a trial basis and it went really well, so I was immune to proceed with information technology permanently," she says. "For me, information technology'southward totally worth it."
Whatever yous propose, send it in writing and then your manager has fourth dimension to give it some existent idea. Approaching them with a verbal proposal puts them on the spot and volition probably upshot in a knee-wiggle "no."
Tips for succeeding with a compressed workweek
In do, pulling off a compressed workweek ways working smarter, and, yeah, working harder – getting through those two boosted hours is no joke. Yous'll need the right combination of prioritization, time management, and pacing.
Start by setting goals for yourself on a monthly or quarterly basis using OKRs or a similar method. Then, ruthlessly prioritize your planned piece of work with those goals in mind, and be mindful of how many unplanned requests you say yeah to.
"I'll stay off of Slack for periods of fourth dimension while I'm working so I don't become distracted past all the little shoulder-taps that come up in," Jenny tells me. Turns out, people usually find a solution on their own when she doesn't respond immediately. (Bonus points for not beingness an "accidental diminisher.") And when y'all say yes to a asking, be clear nearly when you'll evangelize on it – this prevents the "just checking in…" pings.
Next, practice good agenda hygiene. You lot'll probably need to move a coming together or two, so use this opportunity to stack your recurring meetings back-to-dorsum equally much as possible. This will open up upwardly space for long stretches of deep work. You lot may even want to cake 90-120 minutes in the mornings or afternoons (depending on when yous practise your best thinking) then your deep work time isn't fragmented by ad-hoc meetings.
Regardless of how you structure your daily schedule, be mindful of how much fourth dimension yous spend on casual chats, lunches, etc. You lot're working the same number of hours every bit earlier, just that boosted day off pulls your deadlines frontwards. "When I'm at work, I'm really just working," says Lisa. "But I'one thousand conscious of the social side of work and keeping upwards those relationships. It's not like I'grand so snowed under that I can't even poke my caput upwards for a conversation or go for a coffee."
Exercise poke your head up occasionally, though. Working non-terminate for long stretches actually decreases your productivity in those final hours. Step yourself. Take a short break every hr or two, and make sure it's truly a residuum – checking your email doesn't assistance your brain recharge. Only a walk effectually the block is fast and surprisingly restorative.
Reflect, review, and adapt
Every few months, prepare aside some time during your 1-on-i meeting with your director to discuss how the arrangement is going, especially at the offset. Heed with an open heed and attempt to mentally frame any problems they raise every bit challenges to overcome together, rather than indictments of your character or work ethic. If you're the commencement person in your arrangement to try a compressed workweek, there are spring to be some growing pains.
Cocky-reflection is important, too. Ask yourself whether you're delivering work that is every bit expert or meliorate than earlier. Is the longer weekend worth the longer hours during the calendar week? Are your social and family lives holding upward alright?
If a compressed workweek doesn't plow out to be the schedule of your dreams, give yourself permission to honor that and go dorsum to a standard workweek. Better to attempt, fail, and learn something than to never step out of your condolement zone.
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Source: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/compressed-work-week-how-to
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