In June, the UK embarked on the biggest trial of a four-day work week in the world. More than 3,300 employees at 70 companies agreed to work one day less, for full pay and a commitment to keep up their usual productivity levels.

The pilot, which is being monitored by academics from Oxford and Cambridge universities and Boston College in the US, runs for six months. “It has been almost 100 years since the transition from a six-day week to a five-day week, so we are long overdue a change,” says Joe Ryle, the campaign director with the study’s partner, 4 Day Week UK. “The UK has an unhealthy culture where it is seen as a badge of honour to be working all the time, yet our productivity levels are low and younger generations increasingly don’t want to be defined by a lifestyle of burnouts.”

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics back that up. In 2019, the UK’s output for each hour worked was lower than that of the US and France, while other G7 countries’ output per worker was 13% above the UK’s. But in terms of hours worked, research places the UK more than an hour above the EU average of 40.5 hours a week in 2019.

In the UK, 10 million people say they would like to work fewer hours, with 3 million willing to accept less pay in return.

Studies suggest working one fewer day a week can lead to improvements in workers’ happiness and productivity, as well as increasing access to the labour market and having possible knock-on benefits for the environment thanks to the reduction in commuting.

In Iceland between 2015 and 2019, a four-day-week trial among public-sector employees resulted in a “dramatic increase” in worker wellbeing. Afterwards, more than 80% of the country’s workforce negotiated shorter hours. In New Zealand, a 2018 pilot led to the company Perpetual Guardian making the changes permanent.

Not every four-day-week pilot has resulted in lasting success, though. In 2019, the Wellcome Trust scrapped plans for its 800 head office staff to work one fewer day a week after a three-month study, owing to “operational complexity”. The business organisation the CBI has also expressed opposition to the four-day week, stating that “rigid approaches feel like a step in the wrong direction” at a time when a choice of flexible working is seen as increasingly essential.

Research conducted by Gallup also suggests that while employees want more flexibility at work, when it comes to overall wellbeing, other issues such as better management, better pay or more meaningful work can outweigh hours worked.

Still, Joan Fielder, the CEO of Helping Hands, which provides support to the elderly and is one of the organisations taking part in the UK trail, says so far she is pleased with the change. “It doesn’t take away from our service or commitment; instead it allows a better work-life balance and keeps us all focused and refreshed.”

With the upheavals of the coronavirus pandemic having already led to a re-evaluation of priorities – and staff resigning from their jobs in droves – just how much of a difference could an extra day of free time make? We spoke to four employees in various industries as they embarked on the first month of the pilot.

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Week 1: ‘Is it expanding my free time or window-dressing it?’

In Coventry, 35-year-old Dr Fatima Ajia might start her typical working day as early as 5am. As the campaigns and social research manager for the environmental non-profit Waterwise, her role involves compiling research, leading training courses and attending multiple meetings. Her hours are flexible and she works from home, sitting at her desk until her to-do list is all ticked off.

“I’m a creature of habit and work is part of my life’s structure, so I wonder if the four-day week will be about expanding our free time or just window-dressing it,” Ajia says. “Will it be that easy to switch off from the all-consuming aspects of work on Fridays and to engage in life? Or will I feel reduced in some way?”

Over in Salford, 49-year-old Digger Mosey is finding the change a welcome respite. “I’ve been at Helping Hands, where we assist elderly people, since April. Before that, I was at an NHS mental health support unit where I would work nights,” he says. “Having a normal working day and an extra day off on Friday is a dream come true.”

With most of his friends employed full-time, Mosey spent his first Friday off at home, getting round to DIY tasks. “I live alone so I have to crack on with the jobs eventually,” he says. “I had a few drinks on Thursday and had a very welcome lie-in on Friday. Getting back to work on Monday, I felt so much more refreshed.”

Mark Herbert, 52, lives in south London with his wife and two teenage boys. As a manager at Charity Bank, he has concerns about starting the pilot. “It will require a different approach to work, since I can’t just compress my usual five-day workload into four,” he says. “There’s always some faffing involved, so I’ll have to be really focused to get all my tasks done by Thursday evening and probably will have to share the load more, too.

“Prior to lockdown, I would be leaving home about 7am and getting back by 6.30pm,” he says. “Since Covid, most of our work has been remote, so it’s much easier to have no set finish time. With the four-day week I really hope I can spend more time with the boys and see if I can get back to working on my own health and fitness.”

Opting for a Wednesday off, rather than the typical Friday, creative copywriter Emma Colton, 28, who lives in Northampton, has productive plans for her first month of four-day weeks. “I wanted to be switched on for my day off, to fill it with personal projects,” she says. “I’m in the process of selling my flat and starting to write a novel, so I have quite a bit on.”

Her first Wednesday off consisted of a “glorious nap”, journalling, tidying her flat and meeting a friend; she chalks it up as a success. “Being around other people really helps with my creative process, and getting enough sleep helps with productivity,” she says. “I think it was a day well spent.”

Back in Coventry, Ajia is equally surprised with her first week’s progress. Despite responding to work emails over the weekend, she also managed a long-overdue visit with her nieces. “Spending time with family this weekend awakened me to the social value that I’m being robbed of,” she says. “I’d like to make more time to nurture this ‘me-outside-of-work’.”

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Week 2: ‘I don’t know why this wasn’t done years ago’

“I no longer know what day of the week it is,” Colton says from her home in Northampton. “Having a Wednesday off is great for keeping productive all week long, but it also means I don’t get a Friday feeling. Weekends don’t have the same importance as they used to.”

Two weeks into the pilot, Colton is still balancing her expectations with the realities afforded by her free time. With plans to crack on with her novel, she ended up spending her Wednesday tidying her flat for viewings that were ultimately cancelled. “That was disappointing,” she says. “But it was useful to realise that my free time might not always go to plan.”

Meanwhile, Ajia is still finding it difficult to implement a work-life balance. “This week has been busier. Every day, I’ve been glued to my desk, unable to take my lunch break or even to stretch,” she says.

By contrast, Herbert’s colleagues have been cutting down on unnecessary face-time. “We have fewer meetings booked now and they are shorter, while interactions with other staff are more focused,” he says. “Having four days means you always think about what is the best use of your time, so you carry as little forward to the next week as possible.”

Still, he says he couldn’t resist checking his emails over the weekend. But he also fitted in a parkrun – “the first time I’ve managed one since lockdown”, he says.

Mosey, for his part, is becoming increasingly productive. “I used to do homeless outreach volunteering on a Saturday, but now I have Fridays off, I’ve moved it to Thursday night,” he says. “It is much better and it means I can switch off properly for the weekend.” He spent Saturday going out to a local bar with friends and planning a trip the next weekend to a music festival.

“That extra day means everyone gets back on Monday buzzing,” he says. “There’s a really great team spirit, and everyone can save their annual leave for a proper holiday. I don’t know why this wasn’t done years ago – I’m properly dreading it if we have to go back.”

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Week 3: ‘I should cut myself some slack’

On an away day with her team this week, Ajia found that everyone was waxing lyrical about the pilot. “People have their Friday lists, for the fun things they want to experience on their days off,” she says. “Everyone seems in favour of the pilot, even with its teething problems, and to be honest, I’m at ease with it now, too … This week, I’ve done what’s practical and let go of the impossible – in work and in my personal life. I hope it can carry on that way.”

Colton has spent the week coming to a similar realisation, after planned flat viewings on her day off fell through again. “I’ve found I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to make the most of the day I have been given when I actually have a lot going on and should cut myself some slack,” she says. “I’ve realised that I don’t want to plan personal projects as rigidly, since while the four-day week is allowing me to be flexible in my work, it’s also been teaching me to be flexible in my personal life, too.”

On Monday, Mosey is so flexible with his newfound free time that he misses our usual slot to catch up on the week’s activities. “I forgot that I took another day off,” he laughs. “It’s a bit like having a bank holiday every week – you have to keep track of your days. Still, I got all my work done and I had a great time this weekend at the music festival watching Duran Duran. I’m so thankful, since this time last year I was on shifts and the lack of sleep kills you – I’m too old to go back to that now.”

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Week 4: ‘I don’t get that Sunday night fear any more’

With the end of the month in sight, Herbert still feels he is learning how to work more effectively in a four-day timeframe. “Sometimes the work week can feel like the mad panic you get before you’re about to go off on holiday – you’re just rushing to get everything done,” he says. “It’s worth it for the extra day off, though, since it sends you into Monday calmer – I don’t get that Sunday night fear any more.”

He feels a permanent move to four-day weeks wouldn’t be too far a stretch. “We all want it to carry on after the pilot – my family included – and it will be great having the extra time in the autumn when the kids are back at school. There won’t be any excuse to not be prepared for Christmas this year!”

Making up for last week’s fun, Mosey is up extra early this Monday, raring to get back to work. “It sometimes felt like no one got much done on a Monday but now I feel renewed,” he says. “I can’t waste time in the week any more and I feel much more motivated. I honestly can’t think of any downsides, since everyone is getting their work done. My only worry is that we’ll end up doing five days a week again come November.”

In Northampton, Colton has finally managed to organise her flat viewings and get started on her novel. “Not a lot of this month has gone according to plan, but I need to remember to give myself breathing space,” she says. “There is no point in taking part in this trial with the hopes of reducing stress if I am going to pile it on myself in my spare time. Life gets in the way, and that’s OK.”

The four-day week could especially benefit the creative sectors, she feels: “My copywriting is improving because I am making more time to write creatively. Creative jobs work better when you have the time to unwind and think more clearly.”

Perhaps the biggest shift in mindset has come from Ajia. “I’m surprised I’ve enjoyed this month; I usually never like to be idle. It felt as if I had withdrawal from work initially, as it’s such a large part of giving my life meaning,” she says. “But I just needed to get more comfortable with what I can achieve in a limited time and to say a resounding no when I can’t complete something to the standard I want to.”

She feels she has also discovered more of a supportive community at work through the trial, despite initially finding her colleagues’ emails draining. “I don’t need to do everything myself,” she says. “I’m lucky that my colleagues will step in when I need them to.”

Ajia is advocating for the trial to become permanent, but with caution. “It’s not a magic bullet for solving all the problems in the workplace,” she says. “If we truly want work to be better, there are many more issues that need to be addressed alongside our work-life balance – things like diversity, gender equality and pay-gap issues.”

In the meantime, though, she believes that a continued extra day off could have significant consequences for her own life. “I am starting to realise that the accumulation of this free time could allow me to explore much more than I used to,” she says. “I could enrol for an MBA; perhaps I could even have time for a family. These things I thought weren’t possible for me seem like they might be within reach now.”