This blog was first published on 4 August, 2021

When the pandemic hit and the first lockdown was imposed, while the rest of my friends took time getting used to working from home it was business as usual for our team at Asar, because we were a bit ahead of the curve on that front. Asar had been a virtual workspace right from 2016 when it first started and as the organization continued to grow we made a conscious decision to remain a virtual workspace.

The topic of a 4 day work week had often come up in conversations with Vinuta, our CEO & Co-founder, on multiple occasions, even before Asar when we were colleagues in another organization. This time the difference was that we were both in decision making positions and could realize the idea of a 4 day work week — and that’s exactly what we did.

Ever since the first lockdown kicked in last year we have been confined to our screens with minimal human interaction in the real world. Work related travel has come to a standstill and everyone has adapted to the new way of working virtually. At Asar our team meetings had turned into a space to just share what people were feeling instead of work updates. There were days when most of us felt like just taking the day off to spend time doing nothing, unwinding, focusing on our mental well being.

We felt this would be the perfect time to pilot the 4 day work week, so on the 1st of April we announced to our team that for the next 3 months Thursdays would be the new Fridays and this wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. I am happy to share that we have delivered some of our best work in the last 3 months without compromising on any engagement with the wider network that we work with across the country. I am sharing some lessons that I picked up from our pilot which could be helpful for organizations contemplating a 4 day work week.

1. Drop all internal meetings on Fridays: You have started treating Thursdays as new Fridays but the rest of the world hasn’t. You may have to honor some external commitments on Fridays — which you should — but make sure that you do not schedule any internal meetings/calls on Fridays.

2. Have fewer meetings : Since we are all working virtually, our calendars get packed with meetings back to back and if you decide to take Fridays off then expect bumper to bumper traffic. One way to improve efficiency is to reduce the number of meetings you are having. Before you send out a meeting invite, ask yourself, “Can this be an email? Or can I just pick up the phone and get this done on a quick call?” If the answer is yes then don’t schedule a meeting.

3. Have shorter meetings: Not all meetings have to be an hour long. How many times have you got in a meeting and ended up spending an hour discussing something which could have been accomplished in 15 minutes? Try scheduling shorter meetings of 15–30 minutes. Get into meetings with very clear agendas and expected outcomes. If there’s no agenda for a meeting then don’t accept the invite. You won’t believe how productive short meetings can be if you have clarity on what you want to get out of it. If you don’t have clarity then it’s not a meeting, it’s an open mic.

4. Organize your day : Block your 6 or 8 hour work days in compartments. If you are working on multiple projects then divide your day into slots dedicated to those projects. Try and schedule your calls and tasks related to that project during that particular slot.

5. Dedicate time to zoom out : Slot some time in the week to do some big picture thinking. Don’t read or reply to emails, or join meetings. Use this time to think of ideas you want to work on in the future or how your team is doing, to ask if your organization is on the right track and if there are issues that need to be attended to. Think of this as gardening where you are tending to weeds, airing the soil, and adding compost to the plants. This is extremely important for personal and organizational growth.

6. Take it easy: Just because you’ve stopped working on Fridays the world will not come to an end. Avoid reading or replying to mails. Pursue a hobby that you’ve always wanted to, finish that book, pick up your cycle and ride, paint, write a poem, cook, go for a long walk, play with your kids or pets, have that much needed recharge your mind and body have been craving. Enjoy your Fridays.