Four-Day Workweeks Are About Focus, Not Time

At the beginning of the pandemic, outdoor travel tech firm Wanderlust made the quick decision to do away with Mondays. 

Although seemingly an impulsive decision, CEO Mike Melillo said that the idea had been boiling to the surface even before the pandemic.  

According to Melillo, workers were already experiencing the obstacles that come with burnout, blurred lines between work and home, working longer hours and increased levels of work-related stress. 

“I wrote my team the next day to tell them that we were moving to a four-day workweek,” said Melillo. “At the time, I thought it would be temporary — a summertime reprieve during a global crisis. I figured we could take the hit to productivity for the sake of our team’s sanity.” 

However, the shift to a shorter workweek had an unexpected result: more growth. 

Wanderlust saw its productivity grow to its highest levels in history, and a year following the transition, its annual recurring revenue grew by almost 100%. 

According to Melillo, adopting a shorter work week means more than saving time — it means adjusting focus.  

For instance, a worker who may be trying to be present while helping their child with homework on a Sunday night may find themselves thinking about their own work-related responsibilities that await on Monday.   

Not being fully present isn’t just a hindrance on personal relationships; it also has been linked to temporary drops in IQ scores. This indicates that distractions are synonymous with poor performance.