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Is working 40 hours a week a lot?

Most people are not truly "working" 40 hours per week. Now some are working more, but honestly; many are "working" quite a bit less. They are still trapped filling the time expected of them. Even more brutally honest, many people are distracted or focused on things that take away productive hours anyway.

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Imagine a world where you have a real work-life balance? What do you see? I see the end of the 40-hour workweek. No more 9-5 days, working when you want, how you want. Many people dream of escaping the prison of 40 hours with a work-life balance, but few have experienced it.

Who universally decided that is how many hours everyone needs to work? How are 40 hours optimal to ensure everything gets accomplished each week?

Why are there 40-hour work weeks?

The 40-hour workweek dates back to the Industrial Revolution. Then, labor unions tried advocating for US Congress to pass a law mandating an eight-hour workday. While it didn’t pass at the time, eventually, many businesses began implementing the approach, with the difference being eight hours a day, six days a week. In 1926, citing improved productivity amongst his workers at 40 hours per week than 48 hours, Henry Ford changed the approach. Eventually, this led other manufacturers and businesses to start introducing 40-hour workweeks.

Times Have Changed Again

It has almost been 100 years since Henry Ford altered his approach (and changed the world). Since then, the world has experienced tremendous innovation, new technologies, and ways of thinking. Still, the 40-hour workweek remains. In addition, we have seen the rise of the gig economy and the ability to work from anywhere. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up many people's eyes to see that it doesn't matter necessarily when or where we are working either.

Employee Engagement Impact

Through any 1:1s or employee feedback sessions I have facilitated throughout my career, the topic of work-life balance always comes up. Employee engagement is tied to how people perceive they have flexibility with how they work, what they do, when, and where they work. People crave flexibility and balance. Unfortunately, before the pandemic, few organizations delivered that desired flexibility to their employees. Many old-school organizations and leaders felt that employees needed to work more hours, not less (obviously, they were out of touch). While the pandemic has opened some eyes, more needs to happen.

The More That's Needed

Look, the reality is this. Most people are not truly "working" 40 hours per week. Now some are working more, but honestly; many are "working" quite a bit less. They are still trapped filling the time expected of them. Even more brutally honest, many people are distracted or focused on things that take away productive hours anyway. What's needed now more than ever is a full realization that companies can and should develop a results-focused approach to employees at all levels. It shouldn't be about fulfilling a specific amount of hours and time. It should be about whether someone actually produces the results expected. If someone can accomplish the expected results in say 25 hours, let's reward that instead of someone who stretches tasks out over 40+ hours.

Productivity Increases With Fewer Hours

Does anyone else remember in school where you were able to power through a project last minute, delivering quality work and meeting the deadline? With limited time available, it’s possible to prioritize and focus on the most critical tasks yielding a higher quality result. The same can hold in the working world. Many people are given too much time to accomplish tasks or projects with the ability to stretch them out over an 8-hour day or 40-hour week. Sometimes people work on low-value-added tasks to stay busy to fill up their time, as there isn’t enough highly productive work to fill the week. We are very guilty of giving ourselves too much time. Too much time spent in meetings and tasks, when if we gave ourselves shorter time frames, it could make a world of difference.

Imagine

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Take a moment and honestly look at the work you and your team are doing. Imagine what would happen if you removed just 1 hour from each person’s day. Do you think all the tasks and duties on someone’s plate could be accomplished? I hope you do. Let’s be honest; most people don’t work to 100% capacity every day. There are distractions, conversations, and little bits of time wasted where people are not working as optimally as they can. Many people are working hard but not smart too. I firmly believe that you can accomplish more in less time by working smarter. In fact, I read previously that most people only have approximately 2 hours and 53 minutes of productive work each day. That means 36% of someone's day leads to a bulk of their overall results. By focusing only on priorities, we can achieve the same results and have more time back for the things that matter. Remember, people work to live; they don't live to work.

Scheduling Less

Earlier in my leadership career, 16 years ago, I scheduled one of my teams to work 5 hours less per week while still paying them for 40 hours. I did this for six months straight to measure the effects. Despite working fewer hours per week, we could accomplish more and have better results. Why do you think that was the case?

Reducing the team’s hours improved employee engagement as there was a more work-life balance. Because the group was more engaged, customer satisfaction went through the roof. Since our employees loved it, our customers became greater fans of the business, leading to record-setting sales and profit for the branches I managed. With the positive results, I successfully scaled things down even further in time while still paying employees the same wage. What happened was even stronger revenue results.

What about 2 hours less per day?

In some of the talks I have led on productivity or as found in my Achieve More Planner, I have shared the importance of completing a time audit. Over the years, I have done these with many different team members in various organizations and industries. The results showed the same thing: on average, a minimum of 1-2 hours of downtime could be perceived as waste each day. A couple of minutes here, a few more there, and before you know it, almost one to two hours of productivity unaccounted for per day; yet, all major tasks and responsibilities were tackled. Then, depending on the role, throw in wasted time stuck in ineffective meetings (and there can be a lot of them), guaranteed you would find more time that can be spared, leaving you with fewer required hours per week.

25 Hours or Less is Possible

Depending on the type of work, I firmly believe that a 25-hour workweek is 100% possible in most organizations. Given the right structure and environment, 25 hours per week will yield the same or better results than a 40-hour workweek. With less time to waste, most people will spend time focused on priority items. This will allow everyone to feel more productive instead of feeling just busy. Employees will feel more refreshed, improving overall engagement. Add in the ability to let team members choose when, where, and how they work, and you are guaranteed to see positive results. Here's a test, ask your employees if they only had 25 hours a week to work; could they do it? I guarantee you; they will say a resounding "YES!" When given less time to accomplish tasks, people will focus on just delivering the priorities and be forced to be more effective.

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So schedule less time, cut back on useless meetings and work with your team to deliver only the necessities (what will move the needle). I guarantee your culture and company's performance will skyrocket.

The Ultimate Motivation

People are craving more than anything else time back to do what they want and, more importantly, live life on their terms. These last few years with COVID-19 have proven to people that increased workplace flexibility is not only needed but effective. There are multiple ways to offer a workweek of around 25 hours or less.

5 hours a day x 5 days

6 hours a day x 4 days

Three days x 8.5

I bet that implementing this will yield incredibly positive results with little impact. There are some roles, such as service-based positions, where it could be tricky. That might require a unique situation or less flexibility. The key to success is not using this as a way to pay people less, though. Pay them the same. Most companies could probably afford to pay more because results will increase. Again, reward the result, not the time put in. Some leaders out there will think if people can achieve the same results in 25 hours that they can just put more on their employees to bring up the capacity and output. WRONG! There are more distractions and challenges in today's world making that more difficult and the chances of burning out higher. If you want to create a culture of outstanding results truly, try offering it as a motivational tactic. Implement it as a pilot. I've said repeatedly throughout my career that "everything is a pilot." If you are a company executive, team leader, or influence how work is done, strive to encourage everyone to work less and achieve more. Let's end the 9-5 grind of 40+ hours per week! Let's get to a world where full-time hours per week is 25 hours or less.

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