Crafting your perfect working week

Last week, the Guardian reported that nearly 1,000 British workers will now permanently work shorter weeks after a successful six-month trial of four-day and nine-day-fortnight schedules. Participants kept full salaries and saw 62% less burnout alongside 45% greater life satisfaction.

What's your perfect working week?

Imagine wrapping up Thursday afternoon and having real space to breathe, reflect and reconnect with what matters beyond the office. For too long, we’ve equated longer hours with greater success, until exhaustion proves otherwise.

The trial reminds us that true productivity is not endless motion but focused, purposeful action. In coaching, I call this moving with intention. When you commit to fewer hours for your highest-value work, you learn to protect your priorities and let go of everything else.

One of the trial’s most powerful outcomes was improved well-being. That extra day off is not just free time, it’s reflective time. It’s exactly the pause we create in coaching sessions, where silence and curiosity spark real insight.

The companies that volunteered for the trial trusted employees to manage their schedules and deliver results. That shift from micromanagement to autonomy mirrors the coaching relationship: people do best when they own their growth. Setting clear boundaries around time and energy is not a luxury but a fundamental leadership skill.

As more organisations consider adopting shorter weeks, implementation will be the real test ---- who gets the day off, how teams coordinate, how success is measured. These are the kinds of questions coaching helps you navigate, whether you’re piloting change across a team or simply reclaiming balance in your own life. Not every company will adopt this approach so sometimes it's good to stop yourself and ask what it is you really want.

At YouAndMeCoach.com, I partner with professionals to: uncover what truly matters and protect it surface mindsets that hold you back from asking for what you need design simple experiments—shorter hours, time blocks for deep work

If you’re curious about creating your own shorter week mindset, building intentional pauses, regaining control of your time and discovering where your true energy lies then let’s talk. The first 30 minutes are on me: no pressure, just a conversation about what’s possible for you.

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