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 towards the weekend by Friday, afternoon,
Speaker 1: it's just hard to start anything new. People are generally
Speaker 1: trying to wrap up blues ends and get out on time.
Speaker 1: They're tired with a lot of knowledge work. It can
Speaker 1: become a bit of a game each week trying to
Speaker 1: see when it is acceptable to sign off or leave
Speaker 1: the office. That game is a waste of time. If
Speaker 1: people aren't getting much done on Friday afternoon, why not
Speaker 1: give them the time back. By setting an explicit early
Speaker 1: end to the work day on Friday, you and actually
Speaker 1: keep people working up until that time. You can also
Speaker 1: make them happier that they are officially getting some personal
Speaker 1: 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 some folks will be
Speaker 1: annoyed at first, but if you keep posting the hours
Speaker 1: and reminding people, they will eventually get used to it.
Speaker 1: If you work for yourself or work flexibly, you might
Speaker 1: challenge yourself to take a half day one day a
Speaker 1: week or so, plan on finishing all your work by
Speaker 1: early afternoon, then mindfully use the open time for something
Speaker 1: that would rejuvenate you, while on paper you might be
Speaker 1: working fewer hours. Often the slight compression nudges people to
Speaker 1: be more efficient. Does that meeting really need to happen?
Speaker 1: You don't dither about a response to something unimportant, You
Speaker 1: just get it done now. This compression doesn't work, And definitely,
Speaker 1: of course, you are going to get more done in
Speaker 1: thirty seven hours of work then you will in a
Speaker 1: four hour work week. But having some free time available
Speaker 1: during business hours is enough of a reward for most
Speaker 1: people that they will start hunting down efficiencies. And hey,
Speaker 1: if you are in an office, getting a jump on
Speaker 1: Friday afternoon traffic can be a big win. You might
Speaker 1: be able to start planning some longer weekend adventures when
Speaker 1: Friday time opens up. That's true in the summer, but
Speaker 1: it can happen anytime of the year and it just
Speaker 1: might be good for everyone if it does. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear 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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