Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that summer Fridays aren't just for summer.
Speaker 1: Deciding that you and your team members will mindfully work
Speaker 1: a shorter day on Fridays can make everyone happier and
Speaker 1: more efficient too. Back before working from home became more common,
Speaker 1: lots of organizations gave employees a perk known as summer Fridays.
Speaker 1: From Memorial Day to Labor Day in the US, offices
Speaker 1: would close around one pm on Fridays. The idea was
Speaker 1: that lots of people like to take off for summer
Speaker 1: weekend trips, so many people were going to be drifting
Speaker 1: out early anyway. Better to acknowledge it, an account for it,
Speaker 1: and keep people happy since they don't have to use
Speaker 1: vacation days so often. Then have a lot of mysteriously
Speaker 1: canceled three pm Friday meetings. I think it's a smart idea,
Speaker 1: but there's no reason that summer Fridays should just happen
Speaker 1: in the summer. Most people who work a Monday to
Speaker 1: Friday schedule are starting to drift toward the weekend by
Speaker 1: Friday afternoon, it's just hard to start anything new. People
Speaker 1: are generally trying to wrap up blues ends and get
Speaker 1: out on time. They're tired with a lot of knowledge work.
Speaker 1: It can become a bit of a game each week
Speaker 1: trying to see when it is acceptable to sign off
Speaker 1: or leave the office. That game is a waste of time.
Speaker 1: If people aren't getting much done on Friday afternoon, why
Speaker 1: not give them the time back. By setting an explicit
Speaker 1: early end to the work day on Friday, you can
Speaker 1: actually keep people working up until that time. You can
Speaker 1: also make them happier that they are officially getting some
Speaker 1: personal time back, time that they are able to plan for.
Speaker 1: Rather than half working all day till four thirty, they'll
Speaker 1: work at full tilt until one pm, knowing that's all
Speaker 1: the time there is for many organizations. You won't really
Speaker 1: lose anything in terms of productivity, but you will gain
Speaker 1: a lot in terms of employee satisfaction, so that tends
Speaker 1: to be a good trade off. Now, of course, not
Speaker 1: all work can be flexible, but plenty of businesses don't
Speaker 1: actually need to be open. You can, in fact clothes.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's best just to do so, rather than have
Speaker 1: harried employees trying to sneak breaks where they can. I
Speaker 1: recently got to notice that our local pharmacy would be
Speaker 1: closing for lunch every day. Perhaps folks will be annoyed
Speaker 1: at first, but if you keep posting the hours and
Speaker 1: reminding people, they will eventually get used to it. If
Speaker 1: you work for yourself or work flexibly, you might challenge
Speaker 1: yourself to take a half day one day a week
Speaker 1: or so, plan on finishing all your work by early afternoon,
Speaker 1: then mindfully use the open time for something that would
Speaker 1: rejuvenate you, while on paper you might be working fewer hours.
Speaker 1: Often the slight compression nudges people to be more efficient.
Speaker 1: Does that meeting really need to happen? You don't dither
Speaker 1: about a response to something unimportant, You just get it
Speaker 1: done now. This compression doesn't work, and definitely, of course
Speaker 1: you are going to get more done in thirty seven
Speaker 1: hours of work then you will in a four hour
Speaker 1: work week. But having some free time available during business
Speaker 1: hours is enough of a reward for most people that
Speaker 1: they will start hunting down efficiencies. And hey, if you
Speaker 1: are in an office, getting a jump on Friday afternoon
Speaker 1: traffic can be a big win. You might be able
Speaker 1: to start planning some longer weekend adventures when Friday time
Speaker 1: opens up. That's true in the summer, but it can
Speaker 1: happen anytime of the year and it just might be
Speaker 1: good for everyone if it does. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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