Cockroach Labs (nyc) used to have a 4 day workweek as their version of “20% time”, looks like it’s still in place: https://www.cockroachlabs.com/blog/can-a-4-day-work-week-wor...
More bosses give four-day workweek a try
181–190 of 404 posts
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
I take the Subway virtually every day. On weekdays it's not perfect, but generally good-enough.
To some extent it likely depends on which subway you're on. Some lines are rough, especially at the outskirts. But I agree. For all that New Yorkers complain about the subway, it's my favorite thing about New York.
Bad Subway is better than no subway; I wish we had that or any public transport in Northern California.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in NYC, and I have a roughly 1 hour commute each way, but I just take the train everywhere. Of course I can't speak for anyone else, but I find that taking a train to work is a lot less stressful than driving every day. At least on the train, I can read, or pull out my laptop, or just play a video game.
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…
Well, as someone who pulls out their laptop pretty frequently on the train, I can say I've never had anyone spill coffee or kick it, though granted I don't pull it out if the train is at-all crowded.
I recently got a GPD Win 2 as well though, so I've been able to do more computerey stuff lately, even when it is crowded.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#184I'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.
What about your pension or your company car? If you work an extra day in the week 100% of that money can go straight to your pension, giving you 10 years of early retirement.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
The vast majority of people I know who can do four 10s love it, and find the 10 hour days aren't really much different then the 8s. I'd love it if I could do four 10s, but in a company that does 24/7 healthcare, that's not an option for support staff like IT, not even at my level.
Yeah, in my experience the difference between 8 and 10 hour workdays were negligible (except certain times of year where I'd get to my desk before sunrise and leave well after sunset). Anything I'd do with my "extra" 2 hours per day I'd happily batch into my free Friday.
I do find there's a lot of benefit to flexibility though. If I'm in the zone at the end of day, and don't have anything else to do that night, I'll often work an extra ~2 hours (or until I feel like I've lost it.) But on the flip side, I will also leave early on a night where I have a lot to do outside work.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, the one thing I have promised myself is to never have a commute over 35 minutes. I even found a 35 minute commute to an internship in the suburbs disheartening when it was mostly spent sitting in traffic. It's insane to waste that much of your daily life shuttling to your job (if you have an option, which I hope to remain lucky enough to have).
The commute is not the problem, the car is. In Amsterdam I commuted 45 minutes by bike and it was great. I really miss it now that I work from home.
This. I used to have a longish commute (about 1h door to door) but I took Caltrain, and that time was never wasted. I could work, connect with friends, or just unwind. The few times when I did that by car I ended exhausted. Throw in a weekly 3h bike ride to work to stay fit and it was quite excellent.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#187I introduced "work from home Wednesday" at our company and the reduction in stress is palpable. Hell, I sleep better on Tuesday nights knowing I've got a day of silence lined up. The naysayers quickly fell in line too, once they realized how much more they could get done that day.
Why Wednesday though?
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
10 hours really seems extreme. I am certain that the vast majority of office workers could produce the same level of output at a 4x9 schedule as they do in a 5x8 or would in a 4x10. And most would be profoundly happier people.
really? HN crowd is talking about 10 hr days as “exhausting” ? i can’t remember the last time i worked less than 5x10.
By choice?
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#189It 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…
Anecdotal, but I’ve experienced the opposite where the greed seemed to come more from fellow employees rather than managers. Five day weeks meant breakfast breaks as soon as the group came in on Friday, long lunches, and people mentally checking out early. When we switched to shorter weeks this just shifted to Thursday. After productivity was hurting management was met with a near mutiny attitude at the thought of go…
There are two types of companies: those that value presenteeism and those that actually value things getting done.
Yes, I imagine in the first type of company people would continue to slack, but just do it fewer days a week.
Re: More bosses give four-day workweek a try
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
The German standard of living is exceptional. Abstract worries about "the economy not doing too well" don't really matter until the standard of living declines in some meaningful way for a lot of people. Owners demand perpetual growth. People demand comfortable lives and occasional vacations. Most achieve that in Germany. There probably isn't a single better "poster child" of a prosperous society with anywhere near t…
I'd rather be an owner in America with perpetual growth. Difference of culture I guess.
That growth only really benefits a tiny minority of the country though. There are far more people in a precarious position in the US than in Germany