Can you Set Your Alternative Work hours?

Isn’t it just? Dolly was definitely talking to the entrepreneurs, the small business owners who have been nine-to-fivers for far too long. You go, Dolly.

I personally am more of a 8-to-4 kind of gal. Sure, I am no way there yet (I find some days I am closer to 8-to-6), but I have worked hard to find the working hours that work for me (and the ones that work for my team).

My prime time is in the morning, so why not making the most of it?

There are countless of studies nowadays showing that working less, and having a flexible working schedule is benefitting the workforce. As a result, employers in various countries are introducing flexible working as an option for their staff.

Yet, most people still work a slight variation of 9 to 5. Actually, let me correct myself.

Most people will expect people to be available between 9 to 5 on a given working day. This is where the cookie crumbles.

When it comes to this newer generation of entrepreneurs (the coaches, the teachers and speakers I have hanging out with for the last 10 years), we all long to be working less.

We could blame the Four Hour Work Week craze that Tim Ferris started over a decade ago, or simply the fact that more and more younger people are looking to start their own business. And with them mothers looking to add a new venture whilst raising their children.

Truthfully, these new demographics entering the entrepreneurial world has massively changed the way we value our working hours.

As I first set to experiment my new arrangement, I realised that workload is not the only issue you’ll face when setting your own working hours.

Earlier this year, I tried something different. Back in March, I shifted my working hours, and looked at what happened.

These are the key lessons I learned from two weeks living the 8-to-4 life.

Science comes to rescue. Everyone has different peak hours.

If you want to enhance your productivity, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, or if you go for a run at 6 am or 6 pm.

Instead, it’s up to you to make the most of your day, and to learn when you work and feel your best. Brian Tracy calls this your prime time:

Tackling the most important, most strategic work during my prime time enables me to stay motivated, make steady progress, and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Since I can schedule emails, I can easily work around other people's working hours in a fraction of the time.

Let’s say you are sold, but you still do not know when your prime time is. Good old Fab is coming to rescue.

Actually, science is coming to rescue, with Fab as its humble assistant.

Scientists have long studied the body’s natural cycles, or chronobiology.

As well as our circadian rhythm, regulating sleep and hormone levels among all, we also dealing with the roller coaster known as ultradian rhythms, which run in 90–120-minute cycles.

Ultradian rhythms explain why you can start a task feeling excited and alert, then two hours later, you’re checking Instagram and hunting for snacks.

Make sure you find your prime time and make that the core part of your working hours.

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The less time you have available for people to talk to you, the more organised you have to be when it comes to meetings and calls.

As a small team of four, it’s easier to check in on one another. Yet, since we work at slightly different times and different days, we need to make sure we have set times to catch up, and team meetings are an unmissable appointment every week.

Instead of teams, you may be dealing with clients.

I find it easier to have set days working on specific projects, especially when they are not revolving our company. I know countless freelancers allocating “client days” setting expectations clearly.

This is just a warning - so that you won’t come back here and get upset if people struggle with the new boundaries you set. Because they will.

Somehow people expect you to work around THEIR time schedule, most likely as they assume that is the only one out there.

If you are off at 4pm and someone emails you at 5pm you have two choices:

Part of my job involves writing - probably a good 4/5 hours per week (granted I am not writing a book at the moment, which most times I am!)

My writing time is very close to sacred these days. In order to value those hours, I make sure I clearly set boundaries to help me protecting it. That involves my emails, my notifications and (yes) my team as well.

Entrepreneur Paul Graham introduces the idea of two very different working schedules: the manager and the maker.

Writers, programmers, designers, and other creators need a maker’s schedule, which divides time into half-day units, at minimum.

Depending on your role, you find you resonate more with one schedule over another. If you are a very rare bird like me, however, you’ll find yourself being both a maker and manager.

This simply means that you may have to set working hours that allow you to be focused on your making time (for me that is usually early morning) as well as your manager time (which is when most people are online, looking for our attention).

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Doing this, helped me realise how having a reason to close the laptop down and step away from work became key when it came to my to do list.

This experiment taught me a lot about myself and how much I value my time. It has taught me that I would probably spend more time educating people to follow my schedule than me adjusting to the new arrangement.

Oldie but goodie, I LOVED this workshop from Summer School from Becky Pierson Davidson, and I started implementing it in the All-Access Pass after our new big changes this Summer. Cannot recommend Becky enough.

So, what happens after the 2 weeks? Well, the 8 to 3 did not fit with my work schedule, but it was fascinating to try.

I am aware that boundaries can be hard to set - especially since it feels like a way to usher away some opportunities that we could have otherwise being welcoming if always on.

However, being always on comes with a price, and that price is the one that will clearly affect your own mental wellbeing.

Working smarter, not harder, may just about be the answer.

Always cheering you on,

Fab ✌️