Is a Four-Day Workweek the Answer?

Dolly Parton was onto something when she lamented that working nine to five was “enough to drive you crazy if you let it.” Studies show thatlong work hours are linked to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, as well as insomnia and unhealthy habits like excessive drinking.

The Origins of the Four-Day Workweek

This isn’t the first time Americans have sounded the call for shorter workweeks. In fact, the four-day, 32-hour workweek that’s made headlines recently isn’t even new. It very nearly became the standard about 90 years ago.

In 1933,Senate passed a billthat would reduce the standard workweek to just 30 hours. Supporters of the bill included then-President Roosevelt and the majority of Americans who voted for him in part because of his promise to shorten the workweek.

Although a compromise, it was a major step in the right direction for workers who were regularly clocking 70+ hour workweeks at the time, in jobs that consisted of eitherbackbreaking labor or serious health hazards—or both.

The Renewed Call for a Shorter Workweek

Shorter Workweeks Are Better for Employee Mental Health

The biggest takeaway from those pilot studies on the new schedule is the dramatic (and sustained) improvements in mental health and overall well-being that workers experience after switching to a four-day schedule.

In one of the largest pilot studies to date, over 2,500 workers across Iceland switched to a 35-36-hour, four-day schedule (for the same amount of pay as their original 40-hour week) over four years spanning 2015 to 2019.In that time, workers overwhelmingly reported less stress, fewer instances of burnout, and improved mental and physical health. They also felt more positive overall, were happier, and were more energized at work.

Many reported exercising more, spending more time with friends and family, and enjoying their hobbies—all of which contributed to the overall increase in happiness and energy that translated to a less stressful workday.

Those benefits seem to have everything to do with adding that weekday to their weekend. “People may find that they can get errands or housework done on that fifth day, leaving their weekends free,” says Dr. Sandra Fisher, a senior research fellow at Münster University’s School of Business in Germany. “They may have longer weekends that allow them to pursue interests that improve overall life satisfaction.”

In short, it’s about work-life balance. With four days of work and three days off, workers have a more even balance of time during the week to take care of their personal needs and goals—and less work also means less fatigue and exhaustion during that free time.

How to Take a Break from Work (and Why You Need To)

Healthier Employees Are Good for Employers, Too

The same Iceland study mentioned earlier saw zero decline in productivity from those happier, healthier workers over the same time period—even though they were actually working fewer hours. In some cases, productivity even increased after hours were cut.

At one call center in Iceland, for example, workers on the shorter schedule answered 93% of calls, which was actually higher than the 85% average for a “control” workplace where employees stayed on the standard 40-hour schedule.

“The assumption that fewer hours equal less total production may be less true than we think,” says Dr. Christopher Barnes, a professor at the University of Washington’s Department of Management and Organization, Foster School of Business.

Dr. Christopher Barnes, Professor of Organizational BehaviorThe assumption that fewer hours equal less total production may be less true than we think.

Dr. Christopher Barnes, Professor of Organizational Behavior

The assumption that fewer hours equal less total production may be less true than we think.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated $1 trillion is lost worldwide every year to lost productivity linked to depression and anxiety.That loss comes from workers calling out sick, struggling to complete work, or making mistakes because they’re too tired or stressed.

The reality is that workers are humans, not machines. “Proponents of the four-day, 32-hour week argue that most humans can only be productive for a limited period of time,” Dr. Fisher explains. “[So] extra time at work is spent in less productive activities such as surfing the internet […] or chatting with coworkers.”

Demanding 40 hours of an employee’s week doesn’t necessarily mean an employer is getting 40 hours of work. Instead, they may be adding to their employees’ stress levels, which can end up causing more productivity loss than any potential loss from letting them work less.

Opting for a shorter week gives employers as much or more work as they thought they were getting from a standard nine-to-five schedule while also making the people doing that work happier and more energized. It’s a win-win.

The Value of a Psychologically Healthy Workplace

Benefits Hinge on How the Schedule Is Implemented

Those widespread benefits are far from guaranteed. Variations in how companies choose to implement the schedule could lead to uneven benefits at best and increased stress for employees at worst.

“Many people will end up sacrificing some sleep in order to squeeze in two extra hours of work on those four workdays,” Dr. Barnes cautions. Ultimately, the stress of now needing to work 10+ hour days, four days a week, could leave them even more mentally exhausted than they are on the current schedule.

Dr. Sandra Fisher, senior research fellow, Münster University, GermanyThe extended work time on those four days can create conflicts with family life. It can also create difficulties in being productive for a full 10 hours in a single day.

Dr. Sandra Fisher, senior research fellow, Münster University, Germany

The extended work time on those four days can create conflicts with family life. It can also create difficulties in being productive for a full 10 hours in a single day.

Not only were the longer workdays more draining, but the pressure employees felt to maximize the productivity of each hour was higher. Employees took shorter breaks, spent less time chatting with coworkers, and generally avoided downtime and rest.

While managers might see shorter breaks and decreased chatting among coworkers as a boon to productivity, it hurts the company in the long run. “We need this downtime and casual interaction with others at work to maintain our connections,” Dr. Fisher points out.

Those little breaks sprinkled throughout the day make it possible to settle in focus during the hours that they are productive.

Even with these problems, the staff at Elephant Ventures eventually voted to keep the new schedule, albeit with some wiggle room to work remotely or modify the schedule to the individual’s needs—meaning they could clock out to run errands and make up the time later, including on Fridays if they so choose.

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Solution

What the Elephant Ventures case and others with uneven results show are that the four-day week is not a universal fix when it comes to the problem of work-related stress and productivity loss.

For some workers, the option to do remote work might be a more meaningful alternative than a permanent three-day weekend. For others, the flexibility to set their own hours would have a bigger impact.

“You can work for an hour, then take an hour to take your child to the dentist, and then jump right back into work,” Dr. Fisher notes.

But again, not every worker will like the idea of blending work and home responsibilities throughout the day.

“That kind of flexibility feels more like chaos for some people, introducing more stress into their lives,” Dr. Fisher adds. “They may prefer to keep work and home more separate, such that they would rather work longer hours over four days, but then have that fifth day to focus on responsibilities at home.”

This idea that different workers will want different schedules makes sense when you considerthe researchshowing that it may not necessarily be the number of hours worked but the level of preoccupation and frustration associated with that work that causes most of the mental health problems seen.

Dr. FisherThey may prefer to keep work and home more separate, such that they would rather work longer hours over four days, but then have that fifth day to focus on responsibilities at home.

Dr. Fisher

They may prefer to keep work and home more separate, such that they would rather work longer hours over four days, but then have that fifth day to focus on responsibilities at home.

If you cut your hours but then spend your free time stressing about the work you have to do, your shorter workweek isn’t doing you much good.

That same study also found that temporary stress on the job is fine. In more seasonal work or jobs that fluctuate between peaks and lulls, for example, workers can generally handle the temporary spike in stress levels without developing chronic mental health problems.

For others, that inconsistency in schedule could end up being more stressful than just settling into a steady routine of 30-35 hour weeks year-round.

“Ideally, a flexible work arrangement could allow employees to choose how many days to work, which would include four-day workweeks for many who choose that option,” Dr. Barnes says.

Dr. BarnesIdeally, a flexible work arrangement could allow employees to choose how many days to work, which would include four-day workweeks for many who choose that option.

Dr. Barnes

Ideally, a flexible work arrangement could allow employees to choose how many days to work, which would include four-day workweeks for many who choose that option.

In the end, the answer seems to be leaving the messy details to individual workers to decide for themselves how best to balance their work and life responsibilities. Doing that means shifting managers’ expectations away from the number of hours clocked and towardconcrete outcomesand metrics of work done.

What Causes Employee Burnout?

9 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Rose DM, Seidler A, Nübling M, et al.Associations of fatigue to work-related stress, mental and physical health in an employed community sample.BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):167. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1237-yLiu X, Wang C, Wang J, Ji Y, Li S.Effect of long working hours and insomnia on depressive symptoms among employees of Chinese internet companies.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1408. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11454-9Chu L.Impact of long working hours on health based on observations in China.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1347. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11190-0GoodHire.The meaning of work in 2021 survey.Congress.gov.H.R.4728 - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act.Autonomy.Going Public: Iceland’s Journey to a Shorter Working Week.World Health Organization.Mental Health in the Workplace.Stewart WF.Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce.JAMA. 2003;290(18):2443. doi:10.1001/jama.290.18.2443Stewart WF.Cost of lost productive work time among us workers with depression.JAMA. 2003;289(23):3135. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3135

9 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Rose DM, Seidler A, Nübling M, et al.Associations of fatigue to work-related stress, mental and physical health in an employed community sample.BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):167. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1237-yLiu X, Wang C, Wang J, Ji Y, Li S.Effect of long working hours and insomnia on depressive symptoms among employees of Chinese internet companies.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1408. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11454-9Chu L.Impact of long working hours on health based on observations in China.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1347. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11190-0GoodHire.The meaning of work in 2021 survey.Congress.gov.H.R.4728 - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act.Autonomy.Going Public: Iceland’s Journey to a Shorter Working Week.World Health Organization.Mental Health in the Workplace.Stewart WF.Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce.JAMA. 2003;290(18):2443. doi:10.1001/jama.290.18.2443Stewart WF.Cost of lost productive work time among us workers with depression.JAMA. 2003;289(23):3135. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3135

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Rose DM, Seidler A, Nübling M, et al.Associations of fatigue to work-related stress, mental and physical health in an employed community sample.BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):167. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1237-yLiu X, Wang C, Wang J, Ji Y, Li S.Effect of long working hours and insomnia on depressive symptoms among employees of Chinese internet companies.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1408. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11454-9Chu L.Impact of long working hours on health based on observations in China.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1347. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11190-0GoodHire.The meaning of work in 2021 survey.Congress.gov.H.R.4728 - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act.Autonomy.Going Public: Iceland’s Journey to a Shorter Working Week.World Health Organization.Mental Health in the Workplace.Stewart WF.Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce.JAMA. 2003;290(18):2443. doi:10.1001/jama.290.18.2443Stewart WF.Cost of lost productive work time among us workers with depression.JAMA. 2003;289(23):3135. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3135

Rose DM, Seidler A, Nübling M, et al.Associations of fatigue to work-related stress, mental and physical health in an employed community sample.BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):167. doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1237-y

Liu X, Wang C, Wang J, Ji Y, Li S.Effect of long working hours and insomnia on depressive symptoms among employees of Chinese internet companies.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1408. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11454-9

Chu L.Impact of long working hours on health based on observations in China.BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1347. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11190-0

GoodHire.The meaning of work in 2021 survey.

Congress.gov.H.R.4728 - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act.

Autonomy.Going Public: Iceland’s Journey to a Shorter Working Week.

World Health Organization.Mental Health in the Workplace.

Stewart WF.Lost productive time and cost due to common pain conditions in the US workforce.JAMA. 2003;290(18):2443. doi:10.1001/jama.290.18.2443

Stewart WF.Cost of lost productive work time among us workers with depression.JAMA. 2003;289(23):3135. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3135

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