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A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

nytimes.com

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Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#91

Post by linebug »

whateveracct wrote: post #31
sn0w_crash wrote: post #2

If you’re working 20% less than your competitor, you will fall behind. There’s no amount of mental gymnastics one can do to reconcile that fact. And if true, then the market should resolve this.

hmm I work barely 2-3 days/week total for years now and yet I still win out come interview & performance review time

Dell's also doing it. I really liked the one exec's comments, that opening up opportunities to people who are no longer interested in working until "they drop" or have other obligations means they get better technical skills from candidates.

And that she acknowlegdes you can't just keep squeezing the lemon of your existing workers: "Working harder won't pay off, because the pond is empty..." "https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/11/4day_workweek/

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#92

Post by AndrewVos »

jen729w wrote: post #3

Some time last year I stopped working Mondays. I’m a contractor and I know my boss well, so I just said that I didn’t want to work Mondays any more. The difference is remarkable. You go from spending three quarters of your days at work to just over half. The weekend is actually relaxing. You can do chores, relax, and really unwind before the work week starts again. We use Mondays to work on our side projects. You can…

I've been doing the same for quite some time now. Friday is my day off.

It really is amazing for work/life balance.

Another amazing thing is that you can spend time with your family doing fun activities but there are no queues. Everyone else is at work!

You will have to up your day-rate though.

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#93

Post by iso1631 »

srb24 wrote: post #48

Nice for employees but most succesful Hackers/entrepreneurs I know work 6-7 days a week. Availability is often key rather than actual total hours worked.

I work 4 day weeks with Wednesday's off, but I'm flexible. If I need to do something on a Wednesday I'll have a different day off instead, if it all hits the fan at 9pm on saturday night, I'll fix it (or one of my colleagues will), If I need to do a 70 hour week then I will (with the appropriate time-and-a-half for the extra 30 hours worked)

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#94

Post by [deleted] »

jen729w wrote: post #3

Some time last year I stopped working Mondays. I’m a contractor and I know my boss well, so I just said that I didn’t want to work Mondays any more. The difference is remarkable. You go from spending three quarters of your days at work to just over half. The weekend is actually relaxing. You can do chores, relax, and really unwind before the work week starts again. We use Mondays to work on our side projects. You can…

[deleted]

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#95

Post by balfirevic »

AndrewVos wrote: post #92
jen729w wrote: post #3

Some time last year I stopped working Mondays. I’m a contractor and I know my boss well, so I just said that I didn’t want to work Mondays any more. The difference is remarkable. You go from spending three quarters of your days at work to just over half. The weekend is actually relaxing. You can do chores, relax, and really unwind before the work week starts again. We use Mondays to work on our side projects. You can…

I've been doing the same for quite some time now. Friday is my day off. It really is amazing for work/life balance. Another amazing thing is that you can spend time with your family doing fun activities but there are no queues. Everyone else is at work! You will have to up your day-rate though.

If you can up your rate, why wouldn’t you do it in any case?

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#96

Post by khazhoux »

blamazon wrote: post #10
sn0w_crash wrote: post #2

If you’re working 20% less than your competitor, you will fall behind. There’s no amount of mental gymnastics one can do to reconcile that fact. And if true, then the market should resolve this.

Why should I not simply work 24 hours a day, every day of the year? This way no one can out compete me.

You're forgetting to account for sleep time, time to eat, and at least one bathroom break a day.

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#97

Post by khazhoux »

I love a three-day weekend as much as the next guy, but I don't understand how people are pushing for shorter workweeks, and even for universal basic income, meanwhile all the Starbucks near me close at 7pm because they're short-staffed. And restaurants and grocery stores and everywhere you look, there's still a labor shortage.

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#98

Post by fsniper »

khazhoux wrote: post #97

I love a three-day weekend as much as the next guy, but I don't understand how people are pushing for shorter workweeks, and even for universal basic income, meanwhile all the Starbucks near me close at 7pm because they're short-staffed. And restaurants and grocery stores and everywhere you look, there's still a labor shortage.

It's easy, you adapt to not having your coffee after 7pm. (fixed typo of 8pm to 7pm)

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#99

Post by concordDance »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #88
concordDance wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That link is a very complicated one that could mislead people due to the first numbers they see. The number of direct deaths of under 10s in developed countries who did not suffer from a serious congenital condition is essentially 0 (e.g. in the UK about 1 in 20k deaths were of a child under 10 and as far as I know they all had serious health conditions).

There's been an outbreak of hepatitis recently which has resulted in a number of deaths and is very probably Covid-related. There's also a significant risk of Long Covid, although the details are still being debated. Covid attacks the immune system and also hugely increases the risk of complications from micro-clotting. It's certainly not a disease to be casual about, in either kids or adults.

Note that long covid is MUCH more common in older populations. I'm unaware of a case of debilitating long covid in a child under 10.

Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek

#100

Post by shawabawa3 »

kule wrote: post #70
jen729w wrote: post #3

Some time last year I stopped working Mondays. I’m a contractor and I know my boss well, so I just said that I didn’t want to work Mondays any more. The difference is remarkable. You go from spending three quarters of your days at work to just over half. The weekend is actually relaxing. You can do chores, relax, and really unwind before the work week starts again. We use Mondays to work on our side projects. You can…

I see a lot of people go for Monday or Friday when going down to 4 days a week. There's definitely some advantages to that, however as an alternative suggestion I prefer Wednesdays off. I find even in the best jobs, there's a general level of stress that builds up at work over consecutive days. There's a great feeling being a bit stressed on Tuesday and thinking "ah it's ok I've got tomorrow off". It's like that "Fri…

I opted for monday off when i worked 4 days a week, i tried wednesdays a few times but didn't like it as much

I preferred the large block of time off, I found that I enjoyed Friday-Sunday more knowing I had a bonus day on Monday to relax - I could really pack in stuff over the weekend without worrying about being exhausted back at work. And I found the Wednesday off just felt... wasted. Nobody else was free, nobody really wants to do things on Wednesday, and I wasn't tired enough to want a day of doing nothing.

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