Research suggests that a four-day workweek could make workers more productive. Now you just need to convince your manager.
If weekends seem to fly by, be thankful you weren’t born during the early 20th century when having one day off a week was the standard for most employers. In 1922, Henry Ford doubled time off by implementing the Monday-through-Friday timeline at The Ford Company.
A five-day, 40-hour workweek may work well when output is measured by items coming down an assembly line, but productivity is different when it comes to knowledge work. COVID disrupted standard ways of working and created an experiment where companies learned that productivity isn’t measured by hours in a chair.
Perhaps it’s time to rethink the workweek and do things differently, says Joe Sanok, author of Thursday is the New Friday: How to Work Fewer Hours, Make More Money, and Spend Time Doing What You Want.
WHY LESS IS MORE
Researchers in Iceland tracked a group of 2,500 employees who worked a four-day workweek with the same pay and found that their wellbeing dramatically increased, and they reported less stress and burnout and better work-life balance. Microsoft Japan experimented with a four-day workweek and experienced a 40% boost in productivity, although they’ve since discontinued the practice.
Read the complete article BY STEPHANIE VOZZA: https://www.fastcompany.com/90683509/how-to-convince-your-boss-to-consider-a-four-day-workweek
