A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
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Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#2If 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.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#3Some 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 actually focus on that stuff rather than it feeling like an after-thought.
I don’t think I get any less done. Sometimes, but not always (or even often), I’ll work longer days. Sometimes I’ll get up really early and start at 07:00, but that’s mostly because I want to.
I’m never going back. Five days a week feels barbaric now. And if the younger kids (I’m 45) want to work harder and get ahead, well, let ‘em.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#4If 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.
I worked a 4 day work week at one point. My counterargument to this is that most people aren't productive as they think they are. I feel like most people only actually work half the time they say they do.
When I was working 4 days I got more done. This isn't speculation. My hours were tracked and my billable hours went up. My deadlines remained the same but I had less "fuck around" time.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#5If 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.
That is thinking that all workdays are days working. I tend to believe that, given less workdays, you can benefit from increased focus during work and in the longer run.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#6If 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.
What if, at a societal level, we just end up employing more people on fewer days? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#7If 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.
- The impact is dampened because most hard roles aren't going to work 80% time. Sales, customer support, executives, and the important engineers will just work 5 days a week anyway, so you end up with like 4% less actual work being done, so it takes a while for this impact to be clear.
- There are other strategic differences which can easily swing a company +/- 10%, so looking at just two examples might not give clear guidance on the overall effect.
- You would be shocked how many mental gymnastics one can do. Never underestimate how far they can go.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#8Some 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…
How many hours do you normally complete on Tuesday through Friday? I have a hard time getting 8 billable hours in a day, let alone 10
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#9If 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.
You seem to be conflating “working 20% fewer hours” with “producing 20% less value”
While there are surely some jobs for which that holds, for many jobs fewer hours amounts to a more compact and efficient worklife.
Many people can attest to that from personal experience as both a worker and employer. No mental gymnastics involved.
Re: A six-month program in Britain will assess the effects of a shorter workweek
#10If 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.