The daily grind led to a four-day week and a new approach to work-life balance - ABC News Skip to main contentABC News HomepageSearchMore from ABCMore from ABC Close menuABC ABC Home News Radio iview Life More Editorial Policies Read our editorial guiding principles Accessibility Help Contact Us About the ABC Privacy Policy Terms of Use © 2020 ABC Just In Coronavirus Watch Live Politics World Business Analysis Sport Science Health Arts Fact Check Other News Home The daily grind led to a four-day week and a new approach to work-life balance By Caroline Zielinski Posted MonMonday 21 SepSeptember 2020 at 7:00pmMonMonday 21 SepSeptember 2020 at 7:00pm Urban planner Bryn Davies is a proponent of taking a 'romance day'.(Supplied: Bryn Davies) Share Facebook Twitter Article share options Share this on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Send this by Email Messenger Copy link WhatsApp Print contentPrint with images and other media Print text only PrintCancel It was a magical year in Berlin that made urban planner Bryn Davies realise there was more to life than the daily grind. After finishing a master's degree in the United States in 2016, the 32-year-old decided to trade in the nine-to-five for an "incredibly romantic" sojourn in the German capital. "For that year, I spent time with friends in the park, I went to clubs and I lived a life that was tactile, present and in the moment," he says. "It's also when I got into furniture making and realised just how much I needed some romance in my life." After returning to Melbourne to take up a position as a ministerial advisor in the planning field, Mr Davies found himself in a rut. Bryn Davies spends his extra day off working on passion projects, like building furniture.(Supplied: Bryn Davies)His new job was "stressful and anxiety-inducing from the beginning", and for 10 long months, he "wasn't in the greatest headspace". "After Berlin, Melbourne seemed like it sucked — it was all work and no fun," he says. "But then I realised I wasn't being fair to Melbourne, because the way I was living my life was totally different. "In Berlin, I made time for romance, and in Melbourne my life was entirely functional and productivity-driven." 'We've doubled our revenue' So, Mr Davies decided to do what others only dream of: he asked his employer if he could work four days a week. The fifth day would become what he calls a "romance day" — a conscious day dedicated only to passion projects (in his case, building furniture from recycled wood and even restoring an old sailboat and turning it into a pub), as opposed to home chores or admin. Aussie firm's 'no-work Wednesday' concept goes global An Australian digital advertising agency's shift to a four-day week has boosted revenue, profits and staff satisfaction — and its experiment is drawing the attention of big firms and politicians overseas. Read more While it is an arrangement that may not be suited to every workplace, there are benefits that come from allowing employees time to fulfil their creative passions. Studies have shown that people who are involved in passion projects are less stressed, have more energy on the job and are better equipped to switch off when they stop working. It's something Kath Blackham discovered first-hand, after introducing a four-day working week in her digital creative agency, Versa. By working 10-hour days, four days a week, employees can take a mid-week break — and according to Ms Blackham, it's bolstered productivity and profitability. "Ever since we gave our staff Wednesdays off, we've doubled our revenue, tripled our profits, slashed the amount of sick days taken and really improved every metric we measured," she says. Versa chief executive Kath Blackham introduced a four-day working week in her organisation.(ABC News: Daniel Ziffer)It's not quite as simple as it seems While initially intended to be a short-term experiment to help prevent mental health issues in the workplace, the initiative has proven so successful that Ms Blackham can't imagine her business ever doing away with it. "If you think about it, many people take mental health days anyway, so we've just replaced that with a company-mandated one," Ms Blackham says. More productive in a four-day week? A New Zealand company trialled a four-day working week and found staff did as much in 30 hours as they used to do in 37.5. Read more "That said, not everyone needs or wants to take the full day off, so we've also organised 'crafternoons' and an 'entrepreneur club' on Wednesdays in the office for those who want work on their passion project with others." And it seems to be working. The initiative has helped produce the likes of the social enterprise Code Like a Girl, whose founder Ally Watson is a former Versa (then called Deepend) employee. However, as Monash University's Professor Herman Tse points out, giving people an extra day off isn't quite as simple as it seems. "We need to think more carefully about what having a four-day work week means: do we squeeze 38 hours into four days, or reduce the number of hours worked overall?" he asks. "Most companies still focus on contractual hours to calculate superannuation, long service leave, annual leave etc — our whole system depends on this structure." Staff at Versa can take Wednesdays off, while those who want to attend work can join the company's entrepreneur club.(ABC News: Daniel Ziffer)It may not be for everyone Ms Blackham admits that it would be unsustainable for her business to allow employees to move to a four-day roster if they only worked eight hours a day. She says meaningful structural change needs to be led by governments. "The last time we actually made a serious change to the working week was done by Henry Ford 100 years ago," she says. "Since then, we've had an IT revolution, but we're still wedded to the same way of working. I'm sure if the government said 'it's a four-day week' from now on, people and companies would adjust." Any disruption to the standard five-day workweek, however, must be predicated on a climate of trust and transparency between employers and employees, says Professor Isabel Metz from the Melbourne Business School. The move to a four-day working week must be predicated on a climate of trust and transparency between employers and employees.(Supplied: Pexels)"Managers need to be comfortable that these hours are being used for that particular purpose (of passion) and not to do chores, or to work on your own little start-up [or] business when not explicitly stated," she says. Professor Metz adds that an entire day off may not be necessary for everyone — particularly those who don't want to work longer hours on a daily basis. "Having a break during the day for two hours to go for a walk may be enough for them," she says. "People also work differently: some may feel more creative at night, others in the morning, and some may prefer shorter days." 'Giving some leeway can go a long way' For Mr Davies, having a "romance day" has proven both personally and professionally rewarding. "There is a direct link between what I do as an urban planner, such as transforming an heritage site into something new, and the process of taking old bits of wood, covered in paint and cement, and making them beautiful again," he says. He has also managed to fulfil his dream of transforming an old sailboat into a roving, pop-up bar called ear/or, something he would have struggled to do without his employer's support. Bryn Davies has fulfilled his dream of transforming an old sailboat into a bar.(Supplied: Bryn Davies)"If you're an employer and want talented people, you have to be able to trust them, otherwise they will go somewhere else they can be trusted," Mr Davies says. "Normally, talented people want to do good work — you don't have to chain them to a desk to do it — so giving some leeway can go a long way." Caroline Zielinski is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne. She writes on health, science, social affairs and issues related to women. Posted 21 SepSeptember 2020MonMonday 21 SepSeptember 2020 at 7:00pm Share Facebook Twitter Article share options Share this on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Send this by Email Messenger Copy link WhatsApp Related Stories We're too scared to say no to work, and it's taking a big toll This Aussie business shuts its doors every Wednesday. 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