A shorter workweek is being called the future of employee productivity and work-life balance. Is it that easy to make work better?

Having four days off per week seems to provide many advantages. The new plan required Koray Camgöz, a PR officer located in London, to better manage his time. Even with an extra day off each week, he was still able to complete tasks and meet deadlines. He could now spend more time with his child. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were usually his days off. He had to put in more hours at work to make up for having to be reachable for emergencies even on his day off because of the always-on environment.

Even when a workday is removed from the schedule, the workload usually remains the same. Employees generally have to learn new routines and work longer hours when given a tighter schedule. A rapid switch to a new working model can occasionally cause problems, as Camgöz noted, especially if not everyone is in favor of the change. The four-day workweek may have a number of benefits for certain people, but it may also have unexpected disadvantages.