The 4 Hour Workday.
by Amanda Huggins
Every so often whilst stumbling through the internet, I’ll come across an article about the 9-5 work day. Most articles beg the same few questions - What is the real value of a workweek? Will a 9-5 day become a thing of the past?
There’s growing support behind the idea of a four hour workday. Proponents of this uber-short day believe that if you nix all distractions — coffee breaks, water cooler chats, social media interactions — for four hours, you will allow yourself to completely focus on the task(s) at hand. In a perfect world, your concentration is at 110%, and you’re out the door by noon.
I get that.
I love the “get it done” mentality, and I love even more that a four hour workday would allow me extra time to spend with family and friends. The 4 hour workday concept raises some very real questions, and I’ve even tested the idea out for myself when I used to work from home. Depending on the work load…this a 4 hour day can work. If I have a day of strictly writing and researching, four solid, focused hours is the perfect amount time to get all of my work done. However, that’s not my typical day and it’s certainly not the typical day for most other communicators.
As much as I would like for this concept to take off universally, I believe that it’s completely unrealistic in a communications setting. Why?
1. Communicators crave interaction. Come on people…we’re human. We want to talk, to socialize, to interact. Imagine going to work every day (albeit for only 4 hours) without saying a word to anyone. No catching up on your coworker’s weekend or asking about their holiday celebrations — your purpose is focus, and focus alone. No socialization.
I know that may be a bit extreme, but the point I’m trying to make is that a workplace is, in essence, your second home. You spend a lot of time there…would you really be able to shut out everyone in your surroundings for four hours?
2. We can’t remove ourselves from social media. As communications professionals, we can’t (or really, we shouldn’t) just unplug after only four hours. I know from personal experience that a regular 9-5 never is just that — thanks to office Blackberrys and the internet, most people can work from anywhere, at any time. In my opinion, shutting down completely would be irresponsible in a sense.
As communications professionals, we have a responsibility to know what’s going on. We have a responsibility to be engaging, to inform, and to be informed.
3. How much more time are we really gaining? Some people will probably disagree with me on this one, but I don’t know if we would really be gaining all the time we think we would. Yes…I would die for an extra hour or two to sleep in in the morning. I would love to have time for a full workout every day. I would like to have a little more “me” time.
But being a devil’s advocate… I can easily solve all of those problems myself without cutting my day short. I could take 20 minutes out of every day to get organized, so that I don’t wind up with hours worth of cleaning and organizing taking away from said “me” time at the end of the week. I could go to bed an hour or two earlier. Then, I could wake up rested and with an hour to go to the gym. There – I gained time without sacrificing my productivity and I guarantee I’d feel a heck of a lot better 
What do you think – have you ever tried out a 4 hour work day? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m all for the four hour work day, however, it’s not possible for all the reasons you mentioned and more. Naturally, we’re all really inefficient beings made worse by the mobile devices and social networks that occupy our lives. We love distractions (think of us as the animals that we evolved from). When was the last time an animal could focus on one thing for longer than the time it takes to eat it?
I know that comparison is out of left field, but social media makes it because of our ADD generation. Personally, I get uncomfortable disconnecting for 30 minutes, forget 4 hrs.
That being said, the benefits, if we could focus, would be extraordinary. Businesses are so overworked now due to the waste of time that comes from emailing, anticipating, and just interacting. If people had only four hours to get things done, I predict the same amount of work would get done and there would be less office politics or other nonsense that goes on.
I completely agree. We are, without a doubt, the ADD generation.
Thanks for reading Andy!