Do You Prefer Working 4 Hours As An Employee? My Takeaway

Have you ever wanted to work fewer hours each day? Do you find yourself working more hours than you want to? Employees generally work between seven-eight hours each day (maybe even more, such as 10-12 hours). When it comes to shorter workdays, do you prefer working 4 hours as an employee? ‌Even though it’s a small number of hours, it may be worth considering‌ ‌whether‌ ‌the‌ ‌benefits‌ ‌outweigh‌ ‌the‌ ‌costs.

The idea of working fewer hours each day is not uncommon, as more people prefer to work shorter days. As long as it falls under the traditional eight-hour workday, that may be a better alternative in the workplace. For the rest of this post, I’ll go over my thoughts on shorter workdays.

Why work fewer hours each day?

There have been discussions about whether to have fewer workdays or reduce the number of hours each day. With more people working remotely (or working a hybrid schedule), it’s worth talking about what can be done about it.

There have been numerous studies done on shorter workweeks in general. As a matter of fact, the research has shown to be proven why reducing work hours helps workers a lot.

Do you prefer working 4 hours as an employee? Reducing the number of hours at work can help with an individual's overall health.

According to a report done in Iceland, a shorter workweek lead to more happiness and a boost in overall productivity. From 2015-2019, the participants worked fewer hours while experiencing greater satisfaction personally and professionally. 

Originally, they were working a regular 40-hour workweek. When the trials began, the hours went down between 35-36 hours a week without a reduction in their pay. This report is just another example of why shorter workdays are becoming a better solution to increase productivity. 

Why 4 hours a day?

As mentioned earlier, most people may work up to eight hours on a normal work day. So when that’s cut down to four hours, that’s only a half day’s worth of work. 

Half days sound unthinkable for some people, but it may be realistic to an extent. If the end result would be a boost in productivity (and overall well-being for workers), then that can be great savings in money and time. 

Not only would you help workers get more done in a half-day, but they would have more time to do other things the rest of their day. For example, whether that’s to do hobbies or spend time with their families, that would benefit them greatly.

Do you prefer working 4 hours as an employee? Half days have been an idea that's been discussed for some time.

My thoughts

I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of shorter workdays. For me, growing up on a rigorous, structured schedule made it feel like long days at school or work was the norm.

I never understood why it was the case like that while growing up. I do get the history behind the eight-hour workday (i.e. Henry Ford and his company), but that sounds like a thing of the past.

To this day, we’re still living in the past about how we think about school and work. Why are we following the traditional 8-hour model? Maybe it’s because that is what worked well before, but maybe not much these days.

Now that remote work is much more common, it’s well worth looking into what other alternatives there are to the traditional workday. Even with hybrid work as another option, longer workdays may not be necessary.

What’s more important: Time or money?

When it comes to shorter work hours, you certainly get more of your time back. But what about pay? Should it be reduced, or shall it go up to reflect the current cost of living?

That’s something to think about as well. When it comes down to either time or money, I believe having more time wins over everything.

As I’ve mentioned before, time is your most important resource. It’s non-renewable: So once you use it, you can’t make up more of it. 

Do you prefer working 4 hours as an employee? I believe time is much more valuable than money itself.

So working fewer hours mean getting more time back. When you have more time on hand, it frees your schedule to do other things.

When we refer to that, we’re thinking about hobbies or things you find enjoyable. Or when I think about it, I refer to it as doing things I found fulfilling and improving my quality of life. 

So time is something to look at from a different perspective. The more time you have, the more opportunities for you to develop and grow as an individual.

Final Words

The idea of working shorter workdays has been around for a long time. It’s great to see it in practice (as with the study in Ireland), and it continues to be discussed today.

But what it all boils down to is the following: Working fewer hours mean having more time to yourself. That can be time dedicated to doing things that you enjoy and help you grow further in life.

I think that’s the whole point of this article: To give yourself more time and freedom. Once you figured that out, you can have more opportunities come along your way. These are opportunities to help you get to the next stage in your life.

If you’ve ever thought about starting a business where you can work fewer hours, allow me to help out. What I currently do allows me to work less while having more time devoted to more meaningful things.

If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to shoot me a message via the contact page. I look forward to communicating with you soon.

Your Turn: Do you prefer working 4 hours each day?

I would like to get your thoughts on this topic. Do you like shorter workdays in general?

Do four hours each day sound realistic? Do you think it should be more than four hours? 

Do you think time is much more important than anything else? Would more time freedom help you get more opportunities to grow?

Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. I look forward to reading your thoughts, and I’ll gladly respond promptly.

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Eric is the owner and chief editor of notimekillers.com. 

He takes great pride in helping people manage their time and grow their businesses. 

Eric is a firm believer in financial and time freedom, as he believes in financial independence and taking ownership of your time. 

“Time is your most important asset. It can be your best friend or worst enemy. How you use your time can shape the future you desire to have.” 

In his leisure time, Eric loves to write and read whenever possible. He enjoys going for long walks outdoors while doing in-home workout videos every week. 

You can also connect with Eric via LinkedIn.

Self Photo 2019: Here's a picture at a building in downtown Chicago.

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