Why We Have a 6-Hour Workday

Once I first requested my daughter, Megan Hyatt Miller, to hitch our firm as then COO, she agreed below one situation: she needed to unplug from work and go away day-after-day at 3:00 p.m. to choose up her youngsters from college and revel in her night at dwelling along with her household. I agreed, she took the job, and she or he’s been working some model of that schedule ever since.

However then one thing else occurred. Due to circumstances outdoors our management, our firm went via a making an attempt season. Our staff had been spent, and burnout was on the horizon. We wanted to behave. As a substitute of working a standard eight-hour day, we determined to chop our time by 25 p.c to 6 hours. The outcomes shocked us. Not solely did we exceed our firm targets, however we discovered that our staff had been simply as productive, if no more, than they had been earlier than. So we determined to embrace constraints and make the six-hour workday a everlasting a part of our tradition. Here’s what we’ve discovered—and why we’re sticking with it:

1. It forces us to get clear on what issues—and what doesn’t. Certainly one of our values at Michael Hyatt & Co. is doing work that’s excessive leverage. We make investments our company and particular person assets in alternatives with exponential return, measured by revenue, impression, or each. This implies it takes us much less time than regular to attain superb outcomes, as a result of we preserve laser focus.
2. It drives innovation. To provide the identical leads to much less time, we’ve needed to suppose otherwise about our work and give you inventive options. We’ve turn into ruthless about eliminating, automating, or delegating duties that both don’t should be executed, don’t should be executed by a human, or don’t should be executed by somebody who needs to be specializing in high-leverage work as a substitute.
3. It permits us to prioritize life outdoors work. Not solely do we wish our purchasers to attain the Double Win, we wish that for our staff too. Making work the first orientation of our lives wreaks havoc on our well being, our most necessary relationships, and our spirits. However having two further hours per day—or 10 further hours per week—offers us time again. Time for train, physician’s appointments, getting ready wholesome household meals, selecting up youngsters from college, volunteering locally, or pursuing a pastime.
4. It helps obtain sustainable success. Like most companies, we’ve targets and a imaginative and prescient to get us there. However the physique and thoughts want time to rejuvenate. If we wish nice concepts, we have to have nice pondering. And meaning having rested minds and our bodies to repeatedly, constantly, and sustainably carry our best contributions.
5. It units an instance for others. We reside in a world the place workaholism is rampant. Its adverse results are unable to be ignored, together with issues like early demise from stress-related sickness, divorce, loneliness, and burnout. We need to reveal that there’s another choice. There’s a hopeful approach ahead completely different from the established order.

Constraints across the workday contribute to success. It causes us to suppose otherwise about what’s necessary each at work and at dwelling, and permits us to attain the outcomes we actually need with out compromise. What are some methods you’ll be able to embrace the ability of constraints?