VIGILANTEWEB MOVES TO THE 4 DAY WORK WEEK
SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
After much thought and consideration, starting in September 2008, Vigilanteweb will be instituting the 4 Day Work Week. Many people have asked questions like, “How will get all your work done?” or “What are you going to do on Friday?” And those are valid questions.
Like the folks at 37signals, our goal is not to cram 40+ hours into fewer days, rather the opposite. Cram less hours into less days. Or in other words… work less. It’s not that we dislike what we do, we love it, and we’d like to keep it that way. As I’ve kept my head down in my work, I’ve missed a lot.
I’ve found it hard to be as creative as I’d like when we are always at the end of our rope. When executing client projects is the only stimulus I get, I don’t get the perspective that a book can give me, or the stew time for the ideas that have that incubation time in my head, but don’t get the attention necessary to fully hatch. The result is half-baked ideas seeing the light of day. It’s a disservice to myself and to our clients.
Organizations don’t hire us to just write code or make pretty pictures; they hire us for our ideas. Our creativity. Our insight. Those things die if they are not properly cared for. Working 4 days a week allows us to get the work that we need to get done done. Not working 3 days a week allows us to rest, be inspired, sit with ideas, experience life, sit with our families.
We may experience fallout from this. We may lose clients. People may not want to hire us because they think not being around on Friday is a deal-breaker. I understand that. That is a chance we’re willing to take.
Luckyyy! Actually, I have heard of a lot of creative agencies doing 4-day work weeks, and I think it’s a good idea. So many creative projects need time to gestate in your mind. I tend to do the less creative projects (production stuff) when I’m feeling tired, and save my best creative hours for the projects that benefit from it most. But right now, I’d be happy with a 6-day week, never mind a 4-day one. Too many big projects and too many deadlines that aren’t negotiable!
Amy Stewart
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Probably mentioned this before (because I basically never stop talking about it), but I think you’d enjoy _Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It_ a ton. I loved the idea of a Results-Only Work Environment just based on reading articles and blogs, but I read the book this weekend and it’s fantastic (spurring me to turn a bunch of stuff upside-down when I got back to the office today). I think Vigilanteweb is on the right track here.
D. Lee Grooms
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm