Surviving a 4-Day Week
At ELSE we recently started a 4-day week trial. Here’s how it works: every second week we get Friday off — this is a free day for us to do whatever we want. Every first week, we get Friday to work on R&D projects — this can be done from home, or anywhere we choose to do so.
The initial trial ran for a 3 month period and has been extended for another 6 months. So far, things seem to be working out fairly well; no balls have been dropped and even clients seem to be on board with the idea.
For me, this is a bit of a dream come true. You see, I’m the proud parent of two small children and having that extra time to spend with them or do things around the house which I otherwise usually don’t have time to, is truly priceless. But it hasn’t been easy for everyone. A few people have expressed their concerns and struggles with having to achieve their goals in only 4 days (I’m looking at you, Sandra! Just kidding, we don’t have a Sandra).
I’ve done 4-day weeks before: when my daughter started nursery I used to stay with her one day a week and so, I worked only 4 days at the time (with the corresponding reduction in my salary — ouch…). I did it for a couple of years and somehow, I survived. How?
Being organised
Keep track of your tasks somehow. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but this has always been key for me. Currently, I use Trello and have kanban-style boards for every project I’m working on at the moment (even R&D projects). Being a visually and spatially oriented person, this helps me get a very clear picture of what I have to do each week.
Again, it doesn’t matter how you do it; it can be done with post-it notes stuck to your computer’s monitor (I’ve used this technique), it can be done with any of the countless project management tools available out there, the important thing is that you have an overarching view of your workload.
Know when to stop
Perfect is the enemy of good, they say. I see myself as a bit of a perfectionist, but I rather see a job completed to a good standard than one that is perfect but incomplete (and therefore not perfect at all).
Being aware of the time you have to complete a task and sticking to that time, even if what you’ve done is not as good as you would like it to be, is essential.
If keeping track of time is something you have trouble with, there are plenty of tools out there to help you do this.
Take breaks
This may sound like the opposite of what you should be doing — how can I take breaks when I have 20% less time to do my job — but you’ll be surprised at what a 10, 5 or even 2 minute break can do. It resets your brain and clears your ‘RAM’ for a fresh start.
There’s no recipe in terms of how long or how often these breaks should be, so you need to see what works for you, but try it. Go for a little walk, pop to the corner shop, get up from your desk and just think about something else other than what you’re working on. Then, come back and look at your work again. You’ll see things that you couldn’t see before.
Build the wall!
No, I’m not talking about a ridiculous device separating two North American countries. I’m talking about building a wall around you. Just like breaks can be beneficial, sometimes you’re just in the zone and at those times, you need to isolate yourself from everyone else — build a wall around you and stay in the zone. Again, there are plenty of ways to do this. Headphones blasting some good old punk or metal is my favourite method, but I can accept that might not be ideal for everyone…
Find your wall and don’t let anyone come inside when you’re in the zone.
Conclusion
The above tips and methods are by no means a comprehensive guide or rules to follow. They are what works for me. You need to find what works for you.
So, if you took a break from work to read this, well done. Now, put up your wall and do some great work!
