Heavy Workload Photo via Shutterstock

By Aimee Millwood

As the saying goes, “Time is money,” but more and more people are realizing more time doesn’t necessarily equal more money. Less time at work often equates to increased happiness and productivity levels. Furthermore, shortened workweeks decrease city traffic while improving work-life balance.

Many employees in America report being overworked and sleep-deprived. Others say their well being is suffering because of high stress levels at work. So how can we change this? Ryan Carson, founder of the startup Treehouse, has an answer: he purposely gives his employees a four-day workweek.

After working seven days a week for the first company he and his wife started, he realized that working too many hours can actually be less productive. So when he co-founded Treehouse with Alan Johnson the two implemented a four-day workweek and the results have been astonishing. The company is flourishing; its revenue has grown 120 percent, it generates more than $10 million a year in sales, and it responds to more than 70,000 customers despite less time on the clock. And guess what? Carson isn’t alone.

Globally, countries are catching on to the trend that less time at work equals a higher quality of work and, most importantly, happier employees. Europe is in the lead for least hours on the clock: CNN reports Denmark, Norway, and Ireland all have average workweeks that are less than 35 hours, and the Netherlands only works an average of 29 hours per week.

While the Treehouse trend of four-day workweeks is quickly spreading, a shortened workweek doesn’t always mean fewer days at work. Some choose to give employees the option to telecommute, while others are reducing the daily hours of a workday or the entire workweek.

Share with your company how a shorter workweek can benefit everything from your health to the environment with this infographic series.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Aimee Millwood is a writer with wanderlust who currently lives in Hanoi, Vietnam. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her BA in Literature with an emphasis in creative writing. She believes everyone has a story to tell and is interested in the use of personal narrative to give voice to people whose stories are not always heard. She credits growing up in both Hawaii and Georgia with her constant desire to explore the concept of home and how places shape who we become. Although she has spent the past two years traveling in South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, she believes a physical trip is not the only means of travel – at times, just the wind on your face during a long drive or the scent of a campfire can rejuvenate the soul. You can check out more of her work on her blog,www.stopdroptravel.com