FFN #33: Did Someone Say Four Day Workweek? 👀

💁🏼‍♀️ What Does The Research Say?

Here at FF, we like to implement things that are backed by data, thankfully the four-day workweek comes with plenty. In June 2022 61 UK companies piloted the four-day workweek. When the first results were published 92% said they were continuing to test the concept and 29% said they were switching to four days. Average organizational revenue rose by 1.4%; pilot companies also reported a 57% decline in the likelihood that an employee would quit, plus a 65% reduction in the number of days taken off as paid sick time. Other studies have found a shortened workweek allows employees to spend more time with their loved ones, start that side hustle, increase their productivity and time management, reduce leave requests, increase cost savings for businesses and employees reported better mental health.

🧚🏽‍♀️ How Will it Help?

Adopting a four-day workweek in your business can help you keep better boundaries between your work and personal life because let’s face it, most of us freelancers blur those lines too often. A shorter week generally means increased productivity as you have less time to get tasks completed. Freelancers are very susceptible to burnout due to our irregular work, often long hours and consistent pursuit of new clients. Incorporating a four-day week can help prevent burnout by giving you space to rest and recharge often. Plus the extra day off each week, allows us to invest the time we wouldn’t usually have into skill development, learning new tools or working on personal projects all of which can help contribute to your professional growth and diversification of services. Offering a four-day workweek can be an attractive selling point to clients who value work-life balance. Not only that but happy, rested and fulfilled freelancers are far more likely to retain existing clients and attract new ones through great referrals.

✨ How Can I Make it Happen?

Transitioning to a four-day week requires planning and open communication with your clients so they remain happy and confident the work is being completed. We suggest starting the transition by assessing your current workload and commitments to determine if you can condense without compromising deadlines or quality. Set clear goals and boundaries on what days/ times you will be working and time block or use the Pomodoro technique to ensure you’re being productive in your working hours. Restructure your working process so you can identify areas where you can optimize your workflow. This might look like implementing automation software in some aspects of your business to streamline your work. Be sure to openly communicate your new working hours with your clients, to assure them their tasks are being completed on time, we suggest sending a summary of tasks completed each week.  

Watermelon Road

Okay hear me out, fruit jerky sounds niche but trust me these are so delicious! My fave flavour is watermelon lemonade. I love that they’re female-founded and made from clean all-natural ingredients. Perfect for popping in your beach bag or for snacking on during the afternoon while you’re working.