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What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

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Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#11

Post by bitwize »

chrisseaton wrote: post #6
sokoloff wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never minded when my employees do this (and can't imagine why I would). I've also done it myself fairly often because of the PTO rollover limits. You've earned the vacation days. If your vacations happen to be every Friday for 8 Fridays in a row because that's what you prefer, that's none of my business.

Some employers ask you to take holiday in longer blocks because they want people to be able to properly relax and recharge and they think you can't do that in just blocks of one day. (Not saying I agree, but that's what they say.)

Some employers ask you to sit at long sweatshop benches instead of giving you a proper desk, let alone office, because it "fosters collaboration".

Your boss's stated reasons for compelling you to do a thing are often not his real reasons.

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#13

Post by philk10 »

leethargo wrote: post #8
grenoire wrote: post #3

If you are doing 7-5 days, is that really... 32 hours?

Maybe that includes 1h lunch break plus some short coffee breaks? I think that, in Germany, lunch break does not count towards the paid hours in salaried jobs.

Yeh, he was including a lunch break which is not in the paid hours

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#14

Post by seanalltogether »

I've often felt that a 5 day work week is about availability, not raw productivity. I could easily compress all of my weeks work into 30 hours or less, but that's not what my managers and clients value. What they value is the fact that I'm making progress on my tasks, and that my reachability is not preventing anyone else (people above me or below me) from making progress on their tasks

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#15

Post by bluedino »

andai wrote: post #2

The author had a lot of vacation days left, and instead of taking them all at once, decided to give himself a bunch of 4-day work weeks. I wondered recently about the feasibility of doing this, does anyone know how open the average employer is to this sort of thing?

A lot of them don’t like that kind of stuff.

Most are reasonable, if your department has coverage you’re okay.

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#16

Post by aasasd »

I keep lowkey looking for studies on how much actual free time a person has in a day—really free, subtracting all chores and commuting. I've heard that some people have timed that and the results were rather surprising compared to the ‘common knowledge,’ but I'd like to have a source to cite.

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#17

Post by wojcikstefan »

I'm very grateful that I came across this article.

For a long time now I've been struggling with balancing work and life. I've recently started playing with the idea of exchanging a pay cut for a 4-day work week (I haven't brought it up to my employer yet though). It seems obvious now, but I haven't previously considered using my vacation days to do a test run.

Most of the points in the article are solid, but the one about improved focus struck me as odd. It seems that the author is conflating the change in work hours with a change in his process. Even without any schedule changes, you'd still benefit from thoughtfully planning your day out. Then again, maybe less time forces you to be more proactive.

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#18

Post by kwrobel »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10
chrisseaton wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some employers ask you to take holiday in longer blocks because they want people to be able to properly relax and recharge and they think you can't do that in just blocks of one day. (Not saying I agree, but that's what they say.)

I suggest not working for employers who attempt to dictate how you use your PTO without a legal leg to stand on.

In some countries it is mandatory by law to have 14 days in one block per year.

Re: What I Learned from Working 32 Hours a Week

#19

Post by treis »

philk10 wrote: post #13
leethargo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that includes 1h lunch break plus some short coffee breaks? I think that, in Germany, lunch break does not count towards the paid hours in salaried jobs.

Yeh, he was including a lunch break which is not in the paid hours

It's still not 32. 7 to 5 is 10 hours. Subtracting 1 is 9. Times 4 is 36.
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