Forget 9-5 and embrace modern flexible workday for everyone, not just the bosses!

Last week posted a short video on my new YouTube channel about playing tennis in the middle of the workday. The video wasn’t meant to show off my fantastic lifestyle of being able to take a break in the middle of a Wednesday for some sports, but to highlight that in my company, Nozbe everyone can do that. Everyone has that flexibility:

Hybrid doesn’t mean just work from anywhere, it also means working anytime and designing your modern workday!

When embracing new hybrid/#NoOffice lifestyle, many employers think that letting people work from home means that they just change the place, but they still should adhere to the typical 9-5 working schedule.

The thing is, if you give people flexibility to work from anywhere, they’d understand it more like this:

I can finally adjust work to my lifestyle

And this not only means place, but also time!

40 hours per week? 8 hours per day? That’s OK, but don’t tell me when!

Some people are early risers and wake up at 5 am. Others sleep in and wake up at 9 or even 10. Some go to sleep at 8pm, while others stay long past midnight. There are early birds and there are night owls and there are people in between.

Some people have no kids, some have toddlers and others (like me) have three kids going to school.

This all influences when people want and can get their work done.

Many programmers at Nozbe prefer to work in the evenings. Many of us like to cut our workday shorter in the afternoon only to come back for the Night Shift of 1-2 hours in the evening when the kids are asleep and we can work calmly on a few things to feel like we’ve accomplished something meaningful on this day.

Winter time? How about taking a break in the middle of the day when it’s sunny outside?

The seasons also have a big impact. Especially in winter, traditional office workers leave home when it’s dark and come back home when it’s dark. When it’s sunny and bright outside, they’re closed in their offices and can’t even appreciate the weather.

That’s why I have my tennis class at noon on a Wednesday. It’s the warmest and the sunniest in Winter. After my class I come back home, take a quick shower and I’m energized to get my work done!

In my company not only do we let people take a break during the day - we encourage it! If you’re not into tennis or sports like myself, go outside for a walk. Absorb some much-needed vitamin D and clear your head. Or take a meeting while walking!.

What about working in a team? How to communicate with them that you’re not working 9-5?

Talk to them. That’s right, just talk with your team about working hours. You can establish some “core hours” when everyone’s online and working. Other than that, let them note when you’re leaving and when you’re coming back.

This is the main reason we still use Slack at our company. Because we post on the main general channel when we’re working and when we’re away. This way our team knows and nobody’s confused.

The future is hybrid, the future is #NoOffice, the future is being able to adapt your work to your lifestyle for maximum productivity!

This is the way. To give people agency not only to work from home, but also to establish their ideal working hours. To let them take breaks and come back more energized and motivated than ever to get stuff done.

Plus there are countless studies on the benefits of regularly doing sports, on daily walks and just taking a short break at work to be able to come back fresh.

We live in an amazing time that we work with our minds (until AI takes over, that is 🤪). This means we don’t have to commute to office every day and we don’t have to work 9-5. We should be able to adjust our work to our lifestyle and still deliver amazing results as professionals. After all:

You work to live. Not the other way around, right?

Enjoy my latest short video on flexible work hours:

…and subscribe to my new YouTube channel!