I think most of us would be in favour of an extra day off work every week, right? 

The trial

With the current trial underway in the UK, it actually seems in reach (if you haven’t heard of the trial yet where have you actually been?). The trial being conducted is to see whether we can accomplish the same amount in 80% of the time. It is underway currently with around 30 UK companies taking part. 

Similar surveys have taken place in other countries with one of the most successful being in Iceland where they trialled shorter working days. Since the trial, according to the BBC, many companies have now reduced their working hours from 40 to 35. 

ITV have also reported that the trial conducted in Japan by Microsoft “saw productivity went up by 40%, according to researchers.” 

The benefits of working less

The idea is by working less, we are more rested, which results in us being more productive. I’m sure a lot of people are like me and get most of their work done earlier in the day as you’ve (hopefully) had a good sleep and are more focused rather than 8 hours deep in the day when our energy levels have dropped.  

Burnout is very real and a common thing, especially here in the UK where it’s drilled into us to “work work work”. I know there are some industries where people work far beyond the ‘normal’ 8 hours-a-day. By reducing our hours and increasing our personal time, surely this will drastically decrease how many of us experience a period where we physically and mentally burnout? 

I’ve seen a lot of talk around this trial asking whether people would ‘work longer hours 4 days a week to gain the extra day off’ but this is not what the trial is about. Its aim is to prove that you can work 80% of time but still be 100% productive. Plus, I think working those extra hours at the end of your day will only mean those hours will be far less productive. 

Having a 4-day week would benefit different demographics for different reasons and give us a better work-life balance. I think it would also benefit not only employee’s but employers, we could be just as productive (if not more) and morale would be higher. It a win, win! 

What would you do with your extra day? Catch up on the household jobs? Spend extra time with family & friends? Get some extra sleep? Or maybe you’d have a self-care day?

Is the 4-day working week the new remote working?

A few years ago, the idea of ‘remote working’ seemed so strange to a lot of people but look how far we’ve come with that? The pandemic forced us into that and I think people will agree most companies didn’t see a drop in productivity or what they achieved. 

I think that yes, the 4-day working week could be the new remote working!

Check out another of my blogs about the pandemic and how that has affected the work place, I discuss remote working in more detail