5 Steps to a 4-Day Work Week for Employees

Just because you're an employee, that doesn't mean you have to be working long hours forever.

20+ years ago, when I first began trying to work less than a 5 days a week, the corporate environment wasn’t really ready for that. It was all very clear-cut: People had to work certain hours, and had to do things a certain way, and had to be present in the office.

If I asked to work fewer hours, the answer was always, "Well, if we let you work fewer hours, we’d have to let everybody else work fewer hours. Then where would we be?"

Thankfully, as the marketplace has become increasingly results-focused, many small business owners and some larger corporations are starting to understand how important it is to have people be fresh, get results, and retain employees for the long run.

There's a saying in recruiting that goes ‘I'd rather hire great people and ultimately lose them than hire poor performers and keep them. But the ultimate is to hire good employees and keep them for the long run.” Rather than having people constantly looking for a new opportunity, it’s better as an employer to provide a situation where people don't want to jump jobs. If you're an employer, take this in as much as if you're an employee!

I read recently that over 90% of millennials will change jobs or plan to change jobs within the next 3 years. Often, that's because their first job doesn't seem appealing, and they don't see a way that they can enjoy a good lifestyle while they're working.

But that doesn't have to be the case. The first step is to create an opportunity where you can work as a 4-Day Employee. This is phase 2 of the 4-Day Work Week Journey.

5 Steps to a 4-Day Work Week for Employees

1. Get Results That Are Worth More Than You Make

Any small business owner or corporation that knows their numbers will know what you're worth to them. Not all of them will know their numbers, but many do, and the best ones certainly do. When you start getting super high results, any good business owner or manager will think, “I don’t want to lose this person."

Your way of letting your employer know that you're serious is to get results. If you get the results, and you can make sure they see the results, then you can move onto the next step. If your currently workplace doesn’t recognize your results, you might eventually want to leave that workplace. I'm not telling you to leave now, but in the long run, you want to be in workplaces where you can get results, and where they are acknowledged.

2. Get the Same Value of Results (or More) in Fewer Hours

If you know your position is worth X dollars, get results that are worth 1.5 times X or 2 times X. And start doing that in fewer hours. First you tell your boss, "The average person gets X results in this position, but 'm getting 2 times X. More than that, I'm getting 2 times X and I'm getting that in 4 days a week." Make it very clear that you're getting results and that time is not an obstacle to you getting results.

3. Get Paid For Your Results By Your Current Employer Or a New Employer

Depending on the type of position you're in, you might already get paid for your results. If you're in commission-only sales, you're already in a results-based position. If you're in a position that has a salary only, then you might not be compensated as much for results, or maybe you have a mix of the two. Whatever situation you’re in, you want to say to your employer, "I'm ready to get paid based on results. I'm willing to be held accountable to that."

Small business owners and corporations alike want accountable employees, and getting paid based on results shows that you’re in line with that thinking.

4. Work Fewer Hours to Make the Same Or More Income

If your employer agrees to this right away, then great. But if they don’t, then don’t be put off. Try starting with a simple request: ask to take Fridays off for the next 10 weeks using your allotted vacation time. During that time, keep getting those great results you were already achieving. After the 10 weeks are up, reopen the conversation; tell your employer you’ve been able to demonstrate that you can get higher results in 4 days a week over an extended period of time. Is that something you can continue moving forward, without using all your vacation days? Again, your current employer might allow it, or you might need to ultimately look somewhere else.

5. If You Can Get Paid More for Getting More Results, Then Keep Your Expenses the Same Until Your Total Income Starts Increasing

I'll use some numbers here to demonstrate. Let's say I need to make $40,000 a year. Initially, I figure out how to make $40,000 a year in 5 days a week. Then I get more productive and I learn how to make $50,000 a year in 5 days a week. Now, I tell my employer, "Instead of working 5 days to make $50k, can I work 4 days to make $40k?"

It might take a bit of negotiating, but there are a lot of different ways to do it. The bottom line is, you know you can live off $40k, or whatever the number is for you. If you can make that in 4 days now instead of 5, all you have to do is make sure you keep your expenses the same. You might eventually decide that you want to increase your lifestyle expenses, but make sure you’ve locked in the additional income first. You can read more about this step here.

The Next Steps

What this all boils down to is a few variables to consider if you’re an employee hoping to get to a 4-Day Work Week:

1. Can you be worth it? Will your employer be willing to pay you more, or at least the same, to work fewer hours?

2. And then, can you afford it? Can you keep your expenses the same, even when you have more time off?

This process can seem daunting, but if you take it step by step, it’s really not too difficult. If you want to start creating your plan to do this, one of the ways to do it is to have the big picture game plan of how you're going to work a 4-Day Work Week. The 4-Day Work Week Game Plan is a tool and a series of training and coaching videos, that will help you map out your plan. Check it out at 4daygameplan.com

If you have any questions, as always feel free to let me know.

I look forward to helping you make more money in less time doing what you do best.