Ep 13 - How to Be Productive Within a Four-Day Workweek
Release Date: 09/29/2021
Thursday Is The New Friday
How does one enter a flow state? How can you prepare your environment to sustain productive work? Why should you protect your brain? As Joe was about to start working on his book, he safeguarded his mental clarity by not watching any news, going onto any social media, or doing anything that could regear his brain into a different state than it was in when it was fresh in the morning. Here are a few safeguard methods: Have a nutritious breakfast and take care of your physical health and well-being. Create a space to consistently work in when you are wanting to go into a flow-state and keep...
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What can we learn from what we used to do? Do you explore your options? How can testing ideas help you incorporate them into your life? Even in college, Joe was already working a four-day workweek and did not take any classes on a Friday. He would work productively and structure his years to save money to travel internationally. In the beginning, career transitions were off-putting to Joe because they represented becoming fixed on one job with a certain timeline. Joe started exploring and listening to a bunch of podcasts to find out how other people had strayed from the norm and made a living...
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Does your fear often stop you from pursuing your goals? Is fear only a messenger? Can you trust yourself to look at what is on the other side of uncertainty? 1 – Social fear: being afraid to do something foolish that could get you kicked out of your group or community. 2 – Physical fear: being afraid of physical pain and harm to the body. 3 – Ego fear: being afraid of feeling bad about yourself. When people look at the reality of the fears and question it, we come to find that the fears are not nearly as big as we think. Through challenging our fear, we come to find that we catastrophize...
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How do you respond to the idea behind Thursday is the New Friday? Does it challenge you? How can Thursday is the New Friday challenge the working status quo? If you are unsure about the message behind Thursday is the New Friday, then question it. Poke it where you think it should be poked and try to find places where it can improve. At the same time, it challenges you back and asks you why things should stay the same, why the status quo is the better option. Even if the change seems foreign now, remember that the future is expansive, and change is slow. Never say never because things can...
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What would previous generations think of the possibility of this much freedom? How can the work schedule of previous generations alert us to the current opportunities for freedom? How can we set up the lives of our children to have more freedom and joy than we do? Writing the book brought opportunities for learning and gaining a deeper understanding of time. With that understanding comes the knowledge that we have the power to change it to suit us. One of the stories inside Thursday is the New Friday is about Joe Sanok’s grandfather and the intensive work schedule that he lived by....
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How is Thursday is the New Friday structured? How does each section of the book support the philosophy behind Thursday is the New Friday? Who is this book for? Time is deconstructed at the beginning of the book to show that almost all modern-day work time has been made up. The next section of the book discusses why slowing down is necessary for both human satisfaction and health, as well as productivity. What happens in the brain when people slow down? How does that encourage creativity? Once you have learned how to slow down and welcomed the lessons that it brings, the next step is taking...
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What does your type of fun look like? How can fun help you to push your boundaries? Can fun deepen life’s lessons? It may not seem like it at first, but it is through the lens of fun and joy that people can get to a space of openness where they feel their emotions fully and learn well. People are not designed to learn in strict environments with rules and hard punishments, because that is not learning with curiosity and fun, that is learning to survive. Learning about life through fun brings a certain depth to experiences that can ground the lessons, making them more valuable to us in our...
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Do you still work on vacations? How can you practice work discipline? How do you put out work-fires and stop them from happening in the future? Before you leave on your trip, decide how you will structure your vacation; will you have no contact with your team whatsoever, or will you be slightly available and check in once a day or week? This also helps you to lay the boundaries down with your team. Let your team know months before you plan on leaving so that you and your team can lay out a plan. Structure the systems that your team will use while you are away. Lay down what you will do when...
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How do you make a four-day workweek work? What happens if you drop some of the balls in the air? How does the four-day workweek make the most of your time? For most companies, Fridays are at best a 60% effective workday. Fridays are when companies have birthday parties, celebrations, or group events. If your Friday is not as impactful as your Monday, consider changing it up and add Friday to your weekend. If you stop working on Friday and lose 20% of your work obligations, were they part of the top priority of what it is that you had to do? Most likely that 20% of to-do obligations were also...
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What is your hook? What makes you feel fulfilled outside of work? Do you fuel your ego with hustle culture? Your hook is what you want to do if you could, without fail, and without impeding your work. Perhaps you want to go snowboarding once a week, or trail running. Figure out what your hook is and structure your work around it so that you start to create intentional space for yourself outside of constant work. If you find yourself constantly busy without fail and without awareness it may be time for you to make a shift. Know that you can change your activities and reinvigorate your...
info_outlineHow do you make a four-day workweek work? What happens if you drop some of the balls in the air? How does the four-day workweek make the most of your time?
For most companies, Fridays are at best a 60% effective workday. Fridays are when companies have birthday parties, celebrations, or group events.
If your Friday is not as impactful as your Monday, consider changing it up and add Friday to your weekend.
If you stop working on Friday and lose 20% of your work obligations, were they part of the top priority of what it is that you had to do?
Most likely that 20% of to-do obligations were also not as important, perhaps even not as necessary, which means that you are optimizing even more.
One of the greatest benefits of the four-day workweek is that you optimize your time.
You shorten the time that you have to complete something, so you treat your time with respect and integrity because you only have so much of it to get work done.
In this episode, I speak with Angie Morgan about:
- Is your Friday as productive as your Monday?
- What happens if something drops?
- Consider the best use of your time
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