The 5 Hour Work Day: Sound Appealing?
I ran across an article from Eric Morath from the Wall Street Journal about the coming trend of the 5-Hour Workday and it intrigued me. On the surface it sounds appealing doesn’t it? Only 25 hours of work in a week instead of the typical 40…or in some cases, 50 or 60.
It turns out that a German start-up company is doing this and has found that their employees are just as productive, if not MORE productive. But there’s a catch.
As one of my favorite media personalities Dave Ramsey says, “you should WORK when you’re at work”. It’s a novel concept. The truth is that a 5-hour work day is probably more than what you’re currently “working” at your current job.
The company that’s trying out this concept has some ground rules:
No social media.
Only check e-mail twice a day.
They discourage small talk amongst employees.
Could you do this? Not do ANYTHING on your phone except answer it when it rings, not click on ANY social media, turn off all of your notifications. And only look at your email twice in 5 hours?
What about no small talk or gossip with your co-workers? That might actually be a blessing for some!
Whether your boss will let you cut out after 5 hours or not, these are certainly some tips to become more productive, charge through that to-do list, or get the desk cleaned off. Even if you only do it for a day or two.
