Dear employees, be prepared to send this to your boss so you can get a three-day weekend every weekend. The four-day workweek is making a robust emergence in the wake of COVID-19. As employees value their lives more than their work, employers have had to become more strategic with how they encourage their employees to do their work. This includes shortening the workweek from the traditional five-day workweek to four.

What would be the benefit of this change? Well according to a recent survey, sleep! Employees who are already a part of the 4-day workweek scheme are using their extra day off to catch up on sleep they missed throughout the week. Continue reading to find out more about the benefit of this new change.   

The Four-Day Workweek 

Workweeks for traditional schedules are normally Monday - Friday eight to five. This leaves on Saturday and Sunday to run errands, rest, spend time with family and travel. 

However, a new study assessing the effectiveness of the four-day workweek has cited multiple benefits of shortening the schedule by just one day. Employees are using the extra day to catch up on some much needed sleep. With the new schedule, they averaged seven hours and fifty-eight minutes of sleep per night. This is an hour longer than what they slept while working five days a week. 

Economist juliet Schor surveyed more than 300 employees at 16 different companies in three countries. Sleep deprivation fell from a staggering 42.6% to just 14.5%. Although 14% of sleep deprived employees is still not ideal, the initial drop shows the impact such a small change could make. 

There were 70 companies in the UK that participated in a six month trial run by the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global. The early results have shown that it has been very beneficial for them so far. About half of the companies responded to a mid-point check in and said the experiment was working well for 88% of them and that 86% would more more likely to consider keeping the schedule. 

This schedule has been a topic of consideration for many business executives as they try and navigate the troughs of employees leaving for a better lifestyle. 

The effects of sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a serious hindrance to one's life. When individuals are just acutely sleep deprived, and get one to a few nights of less than 7-8 hours of sleep, the effects are drastic. Attention falls, mood disturbances increase, and work needed to be done that day is likely subpar. 

When sleep deprivation continues and becomes chronic, the effects are even more drastic. Primarily, health issues like cardiovascular disease and the risk for serious neurocognitive disorders - such as Alzheimer's - increases. Secondarily, cognitive function continues to decline, with functionality becoming similar to those who are inebriated. 

Lack of focus and memory issues are also challenges that employees face when they are sleep deprived. A grouchy, forgetful, unfocused employee does not bode well for a a company. As companies begin to weigh the pros and cons, the effect on productivity may not be as drastic, or even negative, as they thought.  

Additional benefits of a four-day workweek

Aside from just sleep, there are additional benefits of a four-day workweek. The extra day gives employees time to catch up on work things that they may have gotten behind on throughout the week. This prevents that work from piling up in the evenings and on the weekends, both of which are situations that could further impact sleep throughout the week. 

The extra day also gives people time to go to appointments and run errands that would normally be completed during the weekend. Freeing up the weekend provides extra time for fun activities, family time, and rest. The weekend is supposed to be used for some sort of reboot for the week, but if it is just as busy as the week, then employees get no time to rest. This can lead to more sick days, vacation days, and high turnover. 

If you are an employer, it may do your company well to consider a four-day workweek, if possible. If you are an employee, and these changes still aren't solving your sleep challenges, then you may be at risk for an underlying sleep disorder, of which you should be treated. Please click the orange button below to take a free online sleep test and talk with one of our sleep health professionals. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/employees-use-four-day-work-week-catch-up-sleep-study-2022-10