Friday, August 8, 2008

4 day workweek pt. 2

Today marks the end of my 4 day workweeks. If you didn't read pt. 1, you won't have to scroll down very far to see the intent and purpose of the condensed workweek (again, my life is not that interesting). As I mentioned, they will be asking everyone to give feedback about how it worked (or didn't work).

I thought it was great to have Fridays off. Last weekend, Heather and I went up north. Friday, we stayed with her sister, and I took my nephew Noah to Michigan Adventure where we rode the rollercoasters all day long. We then spent Saturday and Sunday in Manistee with my grandparents, which I was grateful for considering they're 87 and have traded trips to the hospital the past couple years.

When we didn't take trips, Heather and I found ourselves running errands and getting Saturday's stuff accomplished on Friday, and Sunday's stuff done on Saturday, leaving Sunday wide open. Most importantly, I got to sleep in 3 days out of the week instead of 2.

Working longer hours throughout the week wasn't that big of a deal either, because Heather took 9 graduate credits in a 5 week period, so she was plenty busy while I worked later. However, her classes got done last weekend, so this week she spent every day until 6:30pm (or later) by herself. Had she not taken those classes, she might have gone crazy. I sympathize for the other employees who have families. Is the extra day off worth the previous 4 days of lost time?

As for work, I was more productive and felt that it was easier to stay on task. However, this 5-week timeframe is also the slowest time of the year, so it probably wouldn't make a difference if you compared it to a normal workweek.

In general, for me, the pros of a four day workweek outweigh the cons. For others, though, it may be the opposite. At this point, I would support doing this again next summer. Now that we're going back to a full 5 day week, I wonder what I'll miss and what I won't miss. I guess I'll find out and let you know.

2 comments:

Phoenix Rising said...

I've been trying to get a four day work week at my job for 5 years. 3 managers I've had have all said they were "trying" to get us 4 day work weeks, but it's never come to fruition. Nurses only work 36 hours a week (3 12's). Work 3 days get 4 off. But I think my dream week is 4 9's working Mon. Tues., Wednesday off and then working Thur. Fri. Oh yeah and the hours being 7:30 to 5:30 so I just miss rush hour.

Phoenix Rising said...

oops, that wasn't phoenix rising that comment was by kisstheson, I always do that, forget to logout of Kim's email before dropn comments.