As the new year approaches, it’s time for many of us to think about how we’ll approach it differently. For many executives, the start of 2022 was like none other before. Many were still exhausted from having to cope with the COVID pandemic from previous few years and the start of the new year brought an opportunity to play catch-up. However, with the impact on cost of living from rising interest rates across the world and the war in Ukraine taking over news headlines, is it any surprise that people are exhausted and burnt-out?
This requires a change. You need to try to find new ways to make 2023 your most productive year ever – an ambitious goal that requires some consideration. From making more effective use of our limited supply of energy to reframing certain tasks so we are better suited to our individual way of working, there are dozens of little strategies and techniques that can be used when striving for a successful outcome each day. In this blog post, you’ll learn about simple coping mechanisms that can help alleviate feelings of exhaustion during times when motivation is scarce; understand why deprivation isn’t necessarily the key to success; and explore various methods designed to make reaching goals achievable while still allowing yourself adequate rest.
Making 2023 your most productive year ever can be a daunting task, but with the right mindset and approach, it is definitely achievable. But before we do any of that, one thing is clear. You need to find that metaphorical reset button and hit it straight away! Let go of anything that hasn’t worked in 2022 and get over it.
There has been no more important time to reset than the end of 2022. You don’t want to bring your baggage into the new year. It’s time to not only turn over a new leaf but to start a whole new chapter for you. Take the time to actively reflect on what worked and what didn’t work in 2022, then start to set new priorities of what’s truly important to you. If you haven’t ever putting yourself right at the top of that priority list, isn’t it time that you should?
One way to put yourself on top of your 2023 priority list is to set a goal of aiming to work only four days a week. There are many benefits to working less hours covered in my previous blogs, such as improved physical and mental wellbeing. The one thing to realise is that the better you look after yourself, the better work you will do. I suspect that you already knew that.
When it comes to productivity, it is important to understand the key drivers that helps you work better. I can tell you that working long hours will not result in better work. In fact, Professor John Pencavel from Stanford University has shown that if you work more than 50 hours a week, every incremental hour you work thereafter has a diminishing effect on the quality of work (https://docs.iza.org/dp8129.pdf).
The interest in the four day work week is very high right now and 2023 might see it reach a tipping point. At the very least, there will be many more businesses adopting it but I do want to express a word of caution for those considering it. You need to make sure that you prioritise the RIGHT things.
Here’s you big challenge for 2023. Reduce your hours worked to 32 hours a week but make every single hour your do work count! However, you also need to make sure that the extra time out of the office counts too. That day out of the office should not be for you to just sleep in or lie on the beach doing nothing. That’s what weekends are for. You need to be intentional as to what you do with that time. That’s why you need to have a good plan and strategy in place if you would like to change the way you work.
It can be so effective if you have the right plan and right support to make it happen. Start with a broader perspective and focus on why transitioning to a 4 day work week is really important for you. Without clarity on that vision statement and starting with why as Simon Sinek says, the how and what simply does not matter.
If your ‘Why’ doesn’t involve you somewhat selfishly putting your own wellbeing needs first, I ask why not? Do flight attendants ask us to put the oxygen mask on the person and everyone else next to us first? Of course not! They know that if you don’t help yourself first and you pass out, you won’t be able to help anyone else. Same goes for how we work.
Society has changed significantly over the past 100 years and Industry 4.0 is changing how we work like never before. It’s no longer appropriate to have people clock-in and clock-out of work and keep them in the office when they are not productive. As much as the fad of sleeping pods in new office designs were a great idea to help tired office workers, it begs the question to be asked as to what’s driving workers to be that tired in the first place. All that to say that the ways of working and the mindset behind it from business leaders needs to change. We need to work smarter and better, not harder and longer, especially when technology today has made it easier to get work done.
Making 2023 your most productive year ever is definitely possible if you take the right approach, design the right plan and most importantly, have the right support. Doing better work and focusing on your physical and mental wellbeing is essential for maintaining productivity over the long term in 2023. Working four days a week can be an effective way to achieve this goal.