In exactly two weeks, it will be my one year anniversary at InDebted. InDebted, who won the best place to work in Australia in 2022 is one of the first companies in Australia that offers four days working week as well as fully remote work. As I have been working 4DWW for almost a year now, I want to reflect on this experience, mostly for my personal development, and hopefully, it might also be useful to someone else.
When I first started the job, it felt weird in a good way. I never thought about it. I wasn’t looking for that criteria at all. In fact, when the recruiter approached me, 4DWW wasn’t even mentioned, until very last round of interview. So, when I got the job, I was like, that sounds really cool, imagine free time I will have, maybe I can work on a side hustle project or something.
Without a doubt, I would say the most benefit of 4DWW is a great work-life balance.
Before that, I was always trying to have a decent work-life balance. Working from home kinda helped a lot. However, 4DWW does makes a big difference. Surprisingly, an extra day off is actually a whole lot of time. It’s so much easier to organise appointments outside of work. I can have more quality time not just with family, and friends, but also for myself. I exercise more often. I just feel much better, physically and mentally.
In a short version, I would say YES. However, it’s not that simple to tell at first.
In short terms, am I more happy at work? Probably yes? Do I get more stuffs done? Unlikely. It would be lying if I said I can get as much work done as I would work 5 days a week.
However, when thinking about a span of 1 year period, it could be a different story.
For the whole one year at InDebted, apart from the New Year holiday, I only took 1 annual leave (family business), and 1 personal (carer) leave. I never have that feeling of burnout like some of my previous roles. I don’t feel like I need more rests. I have more than enough every week. I am just excited to be back to work on every single Monday. In contrast to my previous roles, I often used almost all the leaves I can have to take rest in between busy weeks.
All the works that I have done during this one year, there was zero bug, or any reworks required. This could be partially due to our engineering culture. But I would also argue that the fresh mind also help me to produce quality work overall.
To be honest, I can’t really think of any bad thing about 4DWW. Like, if you ask any employees, who would ever complain about it, right? 😛
Although, one thing might potentially have a negative impact on my career would be working less meaning I might be progressing a bit slower than others who work their asses off. Especially in tech where things evolve super fast, moving slow is just as bad as not moving.
4DWW is definitely a nice perk to have. However, it’s not such a big deal breaker for me, at least not as much as remote working. The main reason is that I have been enjoying doing what I am doing very much. “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” as said by many. I wouldn’t mind working 5 days at all, as long as I can work from anywhere, and hours can be flexible enough to accommodate decent work-life balance.
In fact, very often, I do work overtime, either late night, or in the weekends, whenever I have some free time for myself. I just enjoy working on the problems that still stuck in my head, doesn’t matter it’s my daytime job or personal projects.
My passion for tech is still very much alive. I love challenging myself, putting myself out of comfort zone. However, often the case, it’s easier said than done. While enjoying a great work-life balance, I feel like the best things I can do is keep learning, exploring things. I hope to write another post to share things I want to learn this year.