Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

More bosses give four-day workweek a try

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

381–390 of 404 posts

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#381

Post by mixmastamyk »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #366
guntars wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a 20% paycut, but a 50% increase in free time! I'm doing the same thing btw, taking every Wednesday off and I love it - it breaks up the week and having the whole extra day for fun projects is totally worth the money to me.

Well put – 50% increase in free time. That's a very positive take on it. Depending on who you are that'll matter more or less, but to me that phrase is heart warming. 50% more time for the family, self care, catching up around the house. That sounds peaceful.

And you pay less taxes, so the pay cut is not as high as the full sticker.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#383

Post by golergka »

volkk wrote: post #31
mjayhn wrote: post #18

I can't begin to explain how much less stress I encounter in day to day life having just one week day to stay home. Just having a day to be able to easily knock out chores between Jira issues; drop the car off at the dealer, sell something on craigslist, complete a house project, go to the dentist, meet the handyman, go to the bank, etc is so nice. All of these things wind up on the back burner when I'm in the middle…

> 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…

Renting in a 5-minute walk distance from the office have been, by far, best investment I've made in my life.

Even though it's a small studio apartment, saving two hours of stress per day is heaven-sent for someone with low energy and chronic depression like me. It's like life switched to easy mode all of a sudden. The only downside is, I can't manage to schedule a time to read books – subways and trains were ideal for it.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#384

Post by SenHeng »

kevindong wrote: post #266
kempbellt wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the same experience when I lived in NYC. A 45 minute commute on the subway was a lot less stressful than the 45 minute bumper-to-bumper driving commute I do now (in Seattle). I would usually play mindless puzzle games and listen to music on my commute. Other people mention the train delays being stressful, but my company had a standing "subway delays ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" attitude about showing up late. People would show…

An interesting lifehack I hypothesized earlier this week and confirmed today is to work from home for the first hour or so of the day and then head into work after the morning rush has substantially subsided. Until today, I've typically gotten on the subway between 9:45am and 10am for my 30 minute commute to work (that's bed to desk travel time). The train usually wasn't packed, but I was certainly squeezed up agains…

I live in Japan and have done this last year to great effect.

My work place is about an hour and a half commute and the trains are incredibly packed starting from around 7am all the way till 9.15am.

What I've done was wake up and started working from home sometime between 7-8am till around 9.15am, then leave for the 9.30am train and I'll be in the office by 11.

Work gets done and I don't get stressed from silly crowds. I also do the reverse and leave work around 4pm to avoid the return rush.

It's a small change but it's an incredible quality of live improvement. This is literal pareto, 20% effort with 80% effect. Do it.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#385

Post by mnicky »

erik_landerholm wrote: post #202
mjayhn wrote: post #18

I can't begin to explain how much less stress I encounter in day to day life having just one week day to stay home. Just having a day to be able to easily knock out chores between Jira issues; drop the car off at the dealer, sell something on craigslist, complete a house project, go to the dentist, meet the handyman, go to the bank, etc is so nice. All of these things wind up on the back burner when I'm in the middle…

Do you actually like your job? I don't mean any disrespect, but I've had jobs I don't really like and I get where you are coming from. Right now, though and at other times, since I've had my own companies, 6 day work weeks and 10-12 hrs a day was not even an issue. I feel like if people go to 4 day work weeks, people that love their jobs and are willing to work 1.5times as much or more will have a huge advantage over…

At my team, we recently established a rule that during Friday you can work on anything work-related you want (e.g. it doesn't have to be something from the actual sprint etc). Similar to the old Google "20% for your projects" kind of a thing.

I expected that lots of useful or interesting things will be made during that time, which is true. But for me, the most beneficial effect is that my enjoyment of my work (which previously wasn't bad - I really liked my work) increased a lot.

So this can be another way how to boost your job enjoyment.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#386

Post by ryukafalz »

canuckintime wrote: post #269
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The GPD Win 2 looks interesting. Can you tell us more about it.

I had the original GPD Win (second revision) and its a quite capable travel computer. I loved the using the two thumb typing grip (which I had perfected from the iPad mini and iPhone 3S ~ 5s landscape) even though the keyboard wasn't so great. My main other gripe was the low screen resolution. The keyboard has been improved in the GPD Win 2 but the resolution stayed the same (I understand why given the target audienc…

I can’t speak for the Win 2, but the Micro PC’s keyboard is miles ahead of the Win’s. I would never use the original Win for terminal work if I had a choice; I have used the Micro PC for it.

DisplayPort output via USB-C is another plus (monitor/mouse/keyboard/charging with one cable!) though the Win 2 may have had that as well, I’m not sure. The original Win did not.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#387

Post by gentleman11 »

GordonS wrote: post #212
mjayhn wrote: post #18

I can't begin to explain how much less stress I encounter in day to day life having just one week day to stay home. Just having a day to be able to easily knock out chores between Jira issues; drop the car off at the dealer, sell something on craigslist, complete a house project, go to the dentist, meet the handyman, go to the bank, etc is so nice. All of these things wind up on the back burner when I'm in the middle…

Around 5 years back, I went from 5 days a week to 4, taking a 20% paycut in the process. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made - it feels like I have so much more time for family, side projects and hobbies than I ever did before. And for reference, I work around 90% from home. TBH, the company I work for has got a pretty good deal out of this, as I'm sure my productivity hasn't dropped at all. (it's a mega…

How did you find a part time seng job? I’ve never seen one in my life. It’s all full time and contract work

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#388

Post by gentleman11 »

danbolt wrote: post #169
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a development manager for years, for a Japanese company. The Japanese are type A++ (at least, in Tokyo). They are masters at applying stress across the Pacific. As a manager, it was my job to insulate my team from the stress, and I often took the hit for telling my bosses that I wasn't going to push my people harder than they already were working. It seemed to work out in the end. When they finally rolled up my…

Game development has a degree of notoriety for its working conditions and I’ve noticed a similar management style to yours appear subtly in certain teams here and there. The turnover is much lower, although the work tends to be less glamorized. I think it works well for the older programmers that have started families.

How does the pay compare in game development? I have heard such mixed things

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#389

Post by GordonS »

gentleman11 wrote: post #387
GordonS wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around 5 years back, I went from 5 days a week to 4, taking a 20% paycut in the process. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made - it feels like I have so much more time for family, side projects and hobbies than I ever did before. And for reference, I work around 90% from home. TBH, the company I work for has got a pretty good deal out of this, as I'm sure my productivity hasn't dropped at all. (it's a mega…

How did you find a part time seng job? I’ve never seen one in my life. It’s all full time and contract work

I didn't, not exactly - it was a full time job for years, then I asked to reduce my hours.

In the UK, employers have to give consideration to reasonable requests for flexible working. But it also helped a lot that I work for a huge corporation, so they are better setup to deal with and permit such requests.

Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try

#390

Post by nickbauman »

goguy wrote: post #333
nickbauman wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I changed my life so my work is 6 blocks from home. I will never go back. No realistic amount of money will ever be worth a commute. I consider commuting a form of incarceration.

I have to disagree. Realistically my only job opportunities for good pay are in cities, you couldn't pay me to live in one of those. I'll take the commute for the luxury of living in the countryside away from the noise, overpopulation and dirt.

For every person I've met from a small town, half say they'd never want to live there again, half are like you. There has been a 10,000 year trend toward urbanization so far. I'm glad for you, even though I suspect your future is going to get harder as the hinterland continues to empty out.
Post reply on HN