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More bosses give four-day workweek a try

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Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#71

Post by Darkphibre »

mikkergp wrote: post #57

I don't know if I'm pro a 4-day work week, (I'm personally not for it if it's 4x10 instead of 5x8) But I'm reading the book [peak performance]( https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Performance-Elevate-Burnout-Scie... ) (Highly recommended) and I generally think that companies should really encourage those employees to work at a schedule that works best for them (This is obviously harder for shift work where the value comes fr…

> Nap time adds to productivity

Amen to this! I pushed for, and saw implemented, a dual nap room for our studio. It was used around the clock by people stretching, meditating, and napping. I found a huge productivity spike taking out 20 minutes a day.

Then, we hired a bunch more people for the upcoming launch, and it was re-purposed into a storage room for old rack hardware (I pushed against this, but was told it was a temporarily unavoidable allocation for the space... meanwhile, the dedicated Lego room sits unused 38 hours a week). So we lost the nap room right as we enter our year of crunch.

Boggles the mind.

Ah well. Have an interesting read on recent research into the commonality of four (rather than two) chronotypes (which I'd used in laying out my position): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691...

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#72

Post by Swizec »

kbenson wrote: post #44
volkk wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know not everyone is as sapped for energy as I am after work, but I leave work and sit in an hour of traffic. My energy is just sapped from me by the time I make it home. I have enough energy to feed myself and sometimes work out to maintain my health.. I know that some people just dont have the privilege of living close to their jobs, but after spending one internship getting up at 5;45am to drive with my dad to…

There are ways to work around the system around metro hubs that tries to push you towards the standard of commuting 2 hours or more each day to get to a higher paying job, but you have to search for them and be flexible yourself in your search for a job that's flexible. These days, it's likely semi-remote work, where you commute 1-3 days a week or in off hours (part of day at home, part at work). For me, I've been lu…

> push you towards the standard of commuting 2 hours or more each day to get to a higher paying job

Crazy question but why not invest some of that higher salary into quality of life improvements like moving closer to work?

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#74

Post by wsc981 »

cocomittens wrote: post #53
rverghese wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But doesn't this rely on everyone else working 5 days? If everyone had a 4-week, it would be just like the current weekend. You can't go to the bank or dentist, because they would also be off. Perhaps you could get the same effect and quality of life by taking Sunday and Monday as your days off and working Saturday.

Maybe different employees could have a different day off so that the business can still run unless there is only one individual that can do that particular job. I think that would work for at least 95%

That’s the approach you see in The Netherlands where a lot of people have 4-day workweeks.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#75

Post by echelon »

izzydata wrote: post #4
BlameKaneda wrote: post #2

Wonder how hourly employees who work 4-days weeks at 32 hours would feel about this proposal.

If they increase the hourly pay by 20% then probably quite happy. Edit: 25%.

Conversely, I'd accept lower pay for 4x8.

I'm close to financial independence and would rather have my time than more money.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#76

Post by clarry »

mjayhn wrote: post #39
volkk wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know not everyone is as sapped for energy as I am after work, but I leave work and sit in an hour of traffic. My energy is just sapped from me by the time I make it home. I have enough energy to feed myself and sometimes work out to maintain my health.. I know that some people just dont have the privilege of living close to their jobs, but after spending one internship getting up at 5;45am to drive with my dad to…

Yeah that definitely helps! Unfortunately I think I'd still need a few hours to unwind and get out of "work mode." I've worked jobs where I could actually walk to work and I still went home just drained. TBH, I'm an introvert and I'm not sure going in to the office will ever be really conducive to my personality. I've worked jobs where I had an office to go to when I needed/wanted to be there but could work from home…

I'm still pretty sapped after 8-9 hours, even if I work from home. And yes, it does build up stress from all the errands that would be easiest to schedule during office hours on a weekday with no work.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#77

Post by tombert »

jhomedall wrote: post #70
tombert wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? I was just saying that I liked that system, I wasn't trying to engage in any kind of real apologia.

I think he meant that as 'why is this so common in the defense industry'.

Oh, upon rereading the comment that makes more sense, that's my dumb fault :)

I don't know actually; presumably one defense company started doing it any then the rest just followed.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#78

Post by Darkphibre »

wolco wrote: post #43
askafriend wrote: post #5

I'd really like to do 4x10hrs versus 5x8hrs. I think that'd be a significant improvement for a lot of people.

If you are trying to kill 40 hours that works. Why not 14-14-12 or 20-20 where you take 4 hours from each day to get the 8 hours for sleep. I remember going to an interview somewhere and during the summers they came in at 8:30am each day (instead of 9) so they could get off at 2:30pm on a Friday. That sounded like hell for no big gain. We need to go down to 20 hours.

I've pulled a 140hr work week twice in nearly three decades of my career. Those weeks were... not sustainable.

Fortunately, I was paid hourly both times, so I was compensated, and the project did get completed.

Ok. Honestly? The first time I was quite young, working with other employees on a fun project with an insane deadline, and it was a blast. But having 4 hours to drive home, eat, sleep, shower, return? Not the greatest.

These days, I'd love to have a 4x8 (or even a 4x10, since I'm pulling 5x10 to 5x12s already).

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#79

Post by burnte »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #8

It seems a lot of these experiments are a success. But after a while somebody gets greedy and thinks “we get good productivity at 32 hours. I wonder how much more we could get at 40 hours?” And soon you are back at the old schedule. Something similar happened at my company. For once a project was ahead of schedule. So instead of thinking that the system worked well and keep working in relaxed manner management decide…

>we get good productivity at 32 hours. I wonder how much more we could get at 40 hours?

Usually 4 days a week means 4 ten hour days, not 4 eight hour days. Hence the phrase "four tens".

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#80

Post by kuu »

k__ wrote: post #36

I'm from Germany and none of my friends works 40h anymore. They're all down to 50-80% This is even regulated by the law, your employer has to allow you to reduce your work time, only in some extreme cases they can deny it. Works like a charm.

Do you also get paid a 50-80%?
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