GOOD MORNING. Please enjoy the AUGUST 2023 NEWSLETTER

READING TIME: 3 MINUTES

Recently I wrote an article on the 4 day work week on my website.

If you haven’t clicked on it, you should.

Here is the link.

The-4-day-work-week.html

You can get only so much info into a 1500-word blog.

So here are some more facts to whet your appetite to start a 4-day work week.

It happened 3 years into my business journey.

It was Easter ‘76. It was not something I expected to happen. Although I suspect it had been happening since my first year in business.

Leading up to Easter was a four-day working week and preceding the break every year I would take a day off, making it another 4-day working week.

Now you’d think, well, so what? It happens every year.

I take an extra long weekend. Still do.

I was heavy into keeping records.

I kept records on every part of my business.

The number of calls I made to get an appointment.

The number of appointments to get a sale.

My average sales commission.

The time taken.

The mileage to the appointment.

The hours in the office doing paperwork. Every conceivable element was recorded. Now, this is not unusual. Maybe a little anal but I did it.

My mentor insisted on it.

I didn’t balk at the task. In fact, I rather enjoyed doing it. After a while, it became a part of my weekly routine (will he ever get to the point?). Okay, here’s the deal.

I noticed my 4 day work week I was getting the same result and sometimes better than my normal 5 day work week.

I checked all the records and presented my findings to my mentor.

He was not surprised. In fact, he said I should go away and prove it to myself. He almost ordered me to take the following Wednesday off. Spend time with friends. Have a long lunch. Do anything, but do not come to the office or think about work.

Now to the best of my knowledge at the time I’m thinking, great, “Let’s do it”!

Then a realization swamped my mind. Who the hell is going to make the money if I’m out swanning around for a day having fun and games with friends? A nervous, anxious feeling came over me. I remember feeling so guilty. What about all the opportunities I’m missing? There are a bunch of new leads I need to follow up on.

Anyway, the thing is I did it. I can’t say in all honesty I enjoyed it.

Strange to be on a one-day break while everyone around you is working.

So what happened?

Absolutely nothing.

My numbers for the week were great.

I went back into the normal routine, refreshed after the break.

I felt energized. I did it the following week and the next.

I never went back.

I increased my annual revenue.

I had better performance numbers in all aspects of my business.

When I worked my 4-day week, I really focused on the tasks.

I split the 4 days into admin days and op days.

These are explained in the article on the website.

The upshot of all this is, I was slowly working on the business and less in the business.

I employed a few part-timers and trained them in specific tasks.

The result was they were doing the job sometimes better than I could.

I worked out later that these guys loved doing the tasks we designed for them around their natural abilities. That’s another story for another day. After a time, my 4-day work week turned into a 7-day work fortnight and eventually a 3-day work week.

My business went from good to amazing.

My life was and still is amazing.

I could spend time with my kids.

I was pretty much always there. Breakfast and dinner and bedtime.

I never brought work home.

Funny story to leave you with. One day my son asked me what I did because his teacher went around the classroom asking the kids what their fathers did.

When it came to Steve, my son, he had to say, “he didn’t know”.

I think he was a little embarrassed.

We did get him involved later so he could understand that I did have a job and a description he could take back to the teacher.

Here is a hit list of the things to consider when evaluating the option of moving to a 4-day work week.

Collect all the data on what you do in every aspect of your business.

Analysis the heck out of it.

Give everything a dollar value.

Including your time. Especially your time.

Now take the plunge. Take a day off.

Take a “me” day.

Keep records of what you did.

Most of all, do not think of work. Get right away from it.

Turn off your cell.

Do this for a few weeks.

Record your progress.

This my friend is a game changer.

I kid you not.

This will rejuvenate the spark.

Set you on fire.

Eh, get a mentor who has experience in this.

Keep moving forward.

Stay true to your dream and go you good thing.

Let me know what your experience was.