4-day work week

Bookishly owner Louise Verity switched her company to a four-day work week. In this episode, she shares some tips for finding the right schedule and becoming more efficient, plus finding her classic books niche.

For more on Bookishly and show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/bookishly-4-day-work-week

Alex Ikonn discovered the power of social media through Luxy Hair, gaining more than three million subscribers on YouTube. His latest venture, Intelligent Change, has sold over 1.7 million copies of The Five Minute Journal. Here, he shares how to grow a following and convert that audience into your first sale.

For more on Alex Ikonn & show notes:  https://www.shopify.com/blog/alex-ikonn-turning-a-following-into-sales?utm_campaign=shopifymasters&utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=podcast

Start designing your perfect social media plan with our simple guide: https://bit.ly/44AnjWT

In this episode of Live-Action SebasTrend, Jack and super producer Becca discuss the live-action ‘Little Mermaid’ creatures, the British 4-day work week, the death of Dilbert, Damien Lillard’s 71-point game, and the “wasteland of weirdness” that is TikTok Live!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you dream of a four-day workweek? Fantasize on Friday afternoons about the luxury of a three-day weekend? Today’s debate digs into the potentials and pitfalls of the schedule that’s been generating buzz around the world, and asks - is the grass really greener? 

Debater Kelvin Yap argues in favor of the four-day workweek, supported by Kath Blackham, the CEO of VERSA, a Melbourne-based AI agency that’s been taking Wednesdays off since 2018. In opposition, we have Marshall Walker Lee, supported by Abigail Marks, a professor of the Future of Work at Newcastle University, who shares the dangers of recklessly jumping on the four-day week bandwagon.

Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso talk to Kickstarter's chief strategy officer Jon Leland about the crowdsourcing platform's pilot program of a four-day work week for all employees and whether productivity has increased.

Under the right conditions, hobbies and physical activities become deep play, taking on additional layers of meaning and personal significance. Historical figures, like Winston Churchill, relished his deep play. Which, for him, was painting. “I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body,” he said, “more entirely absorbs the mind.”

Ol’ Churchill knew that his deep play was important not just for the fun of it, but for the positive impacts on his work. Something Alex Pang knows all about.

Alex is the author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less. He’s made it his life’s work to show that success doesn’t demand longer hours. It demands more rest. And deep play is a central part of it.

But what exactly is it? How can you find the deep play that’s right for you? And can it revolutionize your work?

A few curiosities you’ll uncover in this episode:

• The 4 elements of deep play

• Why Winston Churchill likened painting to battle

• The often-misunderstood relationship between work and rest

Did You Know?

“It is not enough merely to switch off the lights which play upon the main and ordinary field of interest. A new field of interest must be illuminated. The tired parts of the mind can be rested and strengthened, not merely by rest, but by using other parts.” – Winston Churchill

Credits

Curious State is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast hosted and produced by Doug Fraser.

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Podcast Manager - Adam Cecil 
Podcast and Advertising Operations Specialist - Morgan Christianson
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Intern - Brendan Picha 

The Quick and Dirty Tips network is a division of Macmillan Publishers in partnership with Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Have a question? Or a topic you’d like covered on the show? Maybe you just love sending emails? Whichever shoe fits, tie it on and send me a message at curious@quickanddirtytips.com.

Belgium recently announced a new labour deal aimed at providing more flexibility for employees and employers as well, and ensuring more people have access to a workable job so they can participate in the labour market.  In this episode, we provide insights about this new agreement, some recent developments since it was reached a few weeks ago, and considerations on the future of labour and employment matters in Belgium.  Subscribe to our podcast today to stay up to date on employment issues from law experts worldwide.

Host: Michaela Felisiak (ADVANT Beiten / Germany)

Guest Speaker: Kato Aerts (Lydian / Belgium)

Visit the ELA website at www.ela.law.

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Andrew Barnes is an innovator, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of 4 Day Week Global. Andrew has made a career of market-changing innovation and industry digitisation, most recently in 2018 in New Zealand, where he piloted the 4-day week concept in his own business, Perpetual Guardian. The astounding results made waves around the world and sparked a global movement. Andrew’s staff were happier, healthier, more engaged, more focused and more productive, despite seeing a 20% reduction in working hours.

Here we talk to Andrew about the modern-day work environment and the multiple and wide-reaching benefits associated with the adoption of the 4-day week concept.

In this episode we discuss:
• Andrew’s background and motivation for piloting the 4-day work week
• The history of the five-day work week and the concerning rise of the ‘gig economy’
• Our typical productivity levels over a full 40hrs working week
• Changing the dynamics of a workplace to maximise productivity
• The numerous benefits of the 4-day week; from improved productivity and employee wellbeing, to a reduction in economic inequalities and a smaller environmental footprint
• The importance of this being a staff-led initiative
• Other key steps to successful implementation; which are discussed in further detail in Andrew’s book, ‘The 4 Day Week’

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Natalie Nagele, CEO of Wildbit, joins us to discuss building a successful people-first company with a 32 hours workweek. Speaking from her own experiences, as a leading people-first employer, we talk about how you can measure your success as an entrepreneur, how to stay guided by your purpose throughout your entrepreneurial journey, and what it takes to stay committed to your business.  

Three things you will learn from this episode: 

• Why you should think of your business as a tool rather than an end in itself.
• Whether you should pay yourself as a founder or reinvest to build towards a great exit.
• How to avoid burnout by setting the optimum pace for the growth of your business.  

About our Guest: 

Natalie Nagele is the co-founder and CEO of Wildbit. Her priority is creating a happy and positive work culture at Wildbit and the world. This stems from her core belief that businesses are tools designed to create a better world for people everywhere.

On today’s episode: 

• Measuring your entrepreneurial journey in decades. - 03:10
• How slow growth changed our entrepreneurial vision. - 06:43
• Should you service yourself or your business? (the beginning of a people-first philosophy) -09:48
• You don’t have to choose between building a lifestyle business or a unicorn business. - 10:16
• How important is fundraising to your success as an entrepreneur? (the answer may surprise you). - 12:55
• How do you know if your business is moving at the right pace? - 16:01
• The cost of doing more than you planned for in your business. - 22:34 
• A good question to ask yourself instead of comparing yourself to others. -  26:04
• Don’t copy, steal: entrepreneurship vs. being a copycat. - 26:52 
• Should founders pay themselves, or should you reinvest everything in your business? - 29:03
• Living your best life BEFORE you sell your business. - 30:03
• The trouble with the concept of the entrepreneurial legacy. - 32:22 
• Check out these companies with People First Jobs. - 36:04
• Lesson #1: Using moments of tension as opportunities. - 39:25 
• Lesson #2: Pay yourself well. - 41:32 
• Lesson #3: How you impact who you interact with. - 42:49

Key Takeaways: 

• Entrepreneurs should look at and evaluate their lives in decades because it takes a decade to build and scale. 
• Building your business outside trend bubbles can make you stand out and not stick to the trends.
• When your business plateaus, it is crucial to reevaluate what you are doing and why you are doing it. It is an excellent opportunity to evaluate what your long-term goals are. 
• It is becoming much easier to start a business and gain traction, especially in terms of cost. 
• Entrepreneurship is not about fundraising. It is about building value for customers and finding ways to do that in which you are making more than you spend.
• Frequent change in your business makes you lose out on so much momentum. You must set priorities and stick to them instead of measuring yourself against others. 
• Hero worship is ultimately going to fail you. You are better off measuring against yourself than you measure yourself against others. 
• As an entrepreneur, you have to keep assessing how your company fits within who you are and what your goals are in life. 
• Paying yourself as a founder secures your commitment to building a meaningful business. It ensures that you would not leave your business behind for ‘the next big thing.’ 
• Paying yourself well is the best way to keep yourself engaged in your business. 

Building a people-first company while providing a good life to your family: 

[31:27] “I tell the team this all the time: if this business gets harder, and I make less money, it does not make sense. Which it doesn’t, like why would I do that? And that’s Ok. But I’m not torturing my team, and I do that while simultaneously providing 32 hour work weeks. I’m not embarrassed to say that out loud because I believe you can equally do both things: you can build a people-first company while also providing wealth for your family.”  

How do you think building a people-first company would improve your life balance as an entrepreneur? 

Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget to say hello if you would like to share your entrepreneurship story on our podcast. 

Connect with Natalie Nagele:

• LinkedIn: @natalie-nagele
• Twitter: @natalienagele
• People First Jobs: https://peoplefirstjobs.com/ 
• Wildbit: https://wildbit.com/ 

Connect with A.J.Lawrence:

• Website: ajlawrence.com
• Email: aj@b8fpodcast.com 
• Instagram: @ajlawrence
• LinkedIn: A.J. Lawrence
• Twitter: @ajlawrence
• Medium: @a.j.lawrence

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