What Would You Do with 50 Additional Fridays Off?

If you had 50 Fridays off this year, what would you do with them?

Imagine if every weekend this year was a 3-day weekend. What would you do with that extra time?

Maybe some of the time you’d be able to hang out with friends and family, if they were off work or school, too. Some of the time you could take for yourself, pursuing a hobby, learning a new skill, or giving to charity. You could even spend some of the time getting your chores done, freeing up your weekend itself.

There's so much that changes once you start working a 4-day work week, even if you're working 10-hour days, or 40 hours per week. Admittedly, there's research that says 4-day work weeks with 10-hour days don't provide as much benefit to the employees as 4 days of 8 hours, or 32 hours per week.

In most cases, the fewer hours you're working, the less stress you’re under, and the happier you are. But it can still be beneficial even just being able to have 3 days per week that you know you can take off to be with your family and loved ones, doing what you want to do.

As someone who’s been doing just that for years now, I can tell you, when I occasionally have to do a 5-day week with a 2-day weekend, I can feel it taking a toll. 

I might sound soft saying that, and if that's what you want to call it, that's fine. But I like to get my work done in 4 days a week, and it’s as simple as that. I like to enjoy the weekend; I like to be able to be present with my family and friends and loved ones.

Some people tell me that they’re working hard in order to have a great life, and I tell them, “So am I!” I’m still working hard on those 3-day weekends, but I’m working to create a great life for myself and my family by being present.

I want a great life all around, not just a great bank account. I want a great life for me, the people around me, and the people in my community, not just my clients.

The advice in this post is really short and simple. I'm going to suggest that you go to 4dayworkweek.com/tools, and on there you'll find a tool that will help you plan what you would do with 50 additional Fridays.

Of course, you could also do this on paper, but either way I encourage you to pause for a moment and reflect. You could write down 50 things you want to do, or you might just pick 3 or 4 that are really important.

In my case, I play beach volleyball, so my answer would be that I want to play that every Friday I can. It doesn't have to be a huge long list. Just think about what you would do if you were free for the next 50 Fridays.

Then imagine if every year were like that. What would you do with 10 more years of Fridays? That's 500 days in total. What would you do with 20 more years of Fridays? That's 1,000 days!

What could you do with that? You want to learn guitar, or learn to dance? You could! You want to give back to charity, or have more time with your kids or loved ones? There's so much you can do if you make time for it.

But it's got to come from your decision. You've got to make it your priority.

People always ask me how I can spend a Friday at the beach, and the short answer is because I’ve prioritized doing that. I’m not trying to sell anybody on this particular point, but for me, God, family, friends and volleyball are my priority on my days off.

When I'm at work, Monday to Thursday, I'm focused on creating value for my clients and helping people to create their 4-day work week. I also have a small software business and a coaching business for insurance agency owners.

I have a lot of things that I'm doing where I want create big value. And I do!

But on the other 3 days, the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I'm using the same concept of gaining the most out of life and creating value, but now I’m creating value in the lives of myself and those around me.

I encourage you, write down your 50 things, or 50 days’ worth of things if that works best for you.

Then it’s time to look at how can you start creating that.

Maybe you can't take Fridays off yet, but could you could start with just an hour extra of free time each Friday? If you’re an entrepreneur, can you start leaving at 4pm instead of 5pm on a Friday? And then move it forward to 3pm, the 2pm, then 1pm, and before you know if, you have half a day off each week.

If you're an employee, one of the secrets to becoming a 4-Day Work Week Employee is to become so valuable to your employer that they can't do without you. Then you can eventually start negotiating: if you can get the same results done in less time, can you take the extra time off?

In many professions, that's not going to be a problem if you’re a valued employee.

So the same concept applies: make your list of 50 extra Fridays. Start by deciding what you'd do with that time, then get to working on it.

If you have any questions on this let me know. Put them in the comments section below or send me an email.

As always, I look forward to helping you Make More Money… In Less Time, Doing What You Do Best as you start creating your 4-Day Work Week lifestyle.