Making an 8-Hour Workday Schedule Work Easier

For a decade we have been encountering experts and researchers discussing freelance work schedules as a future trend. The mode of work is changing and most of the knowledge workers don't consider an 8-hour workday beneficial. However, many workers still can't stick to 3 or 5-hour workdays. The 9-to-5 work structure seems to work for most people.

The article discusses the pros of the 9-to-5 workday and how users can make their 8-hour workday schedule that ensures freedom and flexibility at the same time.

The Popularity of Flexible Work Hours

Though there are many fans both to 9-to-5 and flexible hours, the flexible hours usually taken as more attractive due to these reasons:

• You can make your workday schedule
• There is no productivity rush for 8-hours straight
• Workday appears shorter
• You enjoy full control over your time

Despite these benefits, we cannot deny the importance of traditional work hours. Flexible work is more suitable for people who master the art of time management. The 9-to-5 workday accommodates those needing to balance their life and work and cannot be relied solely on self-motivation.

In Support of the “9-to-5”

Here we talk about the case for those finding a 9-to-5 workday is better than a flexible workday. The traditional 8-hours work schedule provides the following benefits:

1. Consistent Focus

Usually, people find it hard to work 4 hours straight, then take a break for an hour, do other tasks, and get back to the desk for the rest of the workday. Trying to adopt a flexible schedule being a freelancer reminded me of the time when I was a teacher. My day consisted of 5 hours of teaching, breaks when students were busy in other classes, but filled with grading tests, admin work, lesson plan preparation, etc. What would typically happen is that I would get just 25% done grading tests when I was required to go into class and shift to the teaching mode. It implied focusing on a quite different type of task and ensuring I didn’t bumble about as I shifted to the zone. And after those teaching sessions, I was back in my lounge with a head buzzing from the students’ questions, textbook examples, and impressions, and trying to focus on the grading papers again. It would badly affect my speed, and I would usually end up taking my work to home.

It means I was changing the contexts upon going to that zone. And with each new task, the focus needs to be regained as these tasks are different. Thus, I preferred taking all my classes one by one, with a lunch break, and then shifting to other work or going home.

8-hour workday to help context switching

With this big-time block, you have the time all together to finish your tasks of the day. There is no anticipation of when to stop working, going to the bank, going for grocery or making lunch. Going back to the desk after finishing such errands would cost the time needed for refocusing. Note: Switching the work context is the reality and sometimes cannot be avoided; for example, going to the bank during working hours as the bank has the same work timings. Having a flexible schedule, on the other hand, lets you shift to a new task any time of the day. However, shifting to a new task would mean focusing on a new context.

2. Clearer Boundaries

Having regular working hours, people tend to feel relaxed and are eager for the time to pass and hit 5 or 6 on the clock. People would know that work time is over and their brain starts moving to the personal life mode. A flexible work schedule means you never really get free time as the person would be involved in the tasks for most of the day matching their energy levels. Though it is good for productivity, it makes it hard to balance work and personal life. A person cannot be relaxed fully.

3. Fixed Timing to Reach You

Based on your workday schedule, your availability to other people is determined. With a flexible schedule, you can't tell people any fixed time when they should not reach you to ensure uninterrupted work time. You may be free multiple times a week but not at the same time and to inform your friends, family, and clients on such a frequent basis would need more planning and effort. An 8-hour workday is free from outside distraction as people know about your availability hours. Just set your status as busy or away, turn off mobile notifications, put signage on the door, etc. until you are done with the work.

4. Less overtime

Inflexible work, the context-switching means loss of some time. It typically takes a person almost 20 minutes to go into a zone with a particular task. And the more times they switch, the longer they take to refocus.

This lost time is counted at the end of the day, making a person potentially fall behind with schedule. Or, a lax schedule where overtime seems less taxing.

5. Better work-life balance

The global work-life balance consists of many different factors; especially the work-cutoff time. Naturally, in the presence of less overtime and clearer boundaries, it is easier to maintain a balance between work and life.

• An 8-hour workday means a clear cut-off time
• No alert throughout the day, waiting for the next block of work time;
• Fewer chances of other tasks interrupting your work time With work hours marked throughout the day, you don’t have real boundaries. You can finish your tasks after dinner or after the gym. Activities typically reserved for relaxation time. By dividing the work time, you also divide your rest time, and the two become knotted, no matter how much you try to balance them. I prefer starting my work within 15 minutes once I get up (as I work remotely), so I can complete everything by 3 PM. The feeling when seeing the time as 3:01, and knowing the workday is over, is something the most refreshing thing. Let’s discover how to make an 8-hour workday full of productivity, and not a hike to go through.

Making a Functional 8-Hour Schedule

Find optimal work hours If you can, select the time for your 8-hour work time– whether in the morning or the afternoon. Identify your distractions and address them Handling the distractions that come your way will be easier knowing exactly what is bothering you the most.

The way to address interruption is based:

• Its type either personal or professional
• Duration of its distraction
• Time to regain focus
• If you can handle it with an app (like a Phone-locking app for focus).

3. Maintain a time card or a timesheet

Maintaining a healthy 9-to-5 is accountable to yourself. To gain all the pros of an 8-hour workday, know when your day begins and when ends. This can be done in the following two ways:

• Maintaining a timecard

Timecards are a mode for tracking time. You just log the time when the work hours start and log again once you end. Handle the rest of the schedule through a calendar app, a to-do list, a project management platform, etc. Timecard notes the start and end of the 8-hour workday, as well as overtime if any, you have. It helps to calculate how much you earn per week. Clockbook has an embedded calculator in its browser version that further eases this calculation with no need to download separate software for earning calculation.

• Maintaining a timesheet

If you want to have more control over your schedule, use a detailed timesheet. The handiest tool is a digital timesheet, as it is easy to use, gives the way to autofill, creates templates, and usually saves time. For example, Clockbook lets you create your 8-hour work schedule in many ways: If doing it directly from the app itself, make a timesheet based on how much time you spend on each project every day. This is ideal for projects spanning across more than a week or so, and you do not need a strict hourly schedule.

• For a more detailed framework, go for Clockbook’s Google Calendar integration as noting your schedule here make the schedule precise, and the colorful blocks clearly show how your day flows – which tasks persist, or when you take the breaks, for

example.

The above image shows an 8-hour schedule, even when the tasks are different enough to warrant a productive day, with sensible context switching. Additionally, with the Clockbook timer in the calendar, it is easy to accurately fix each task on the calendar. Time cards and timesheets are great for self-accountability and ensuring being productive. It also makes future scheduling decisions easier.

This Clockbook integration for Google Calendar is great for those using Google app suites. It uses Zapier and is compatible with a mobile device, desktop, or browser. Lastly, many people like to use the “old ways” of pen and paper. You can thus simply fill in a physical calendar while being at your desk, or create a journal calendar yourself. The easiest way to track time with a physical schedule is using pre-made templates. There are many sources to choose from based on the type of schedule you want:

• Monthly
• Biweekly
• Weekly
• Daily
• Hourly Download and print these in Word, Excel, Google Docs, Sheets, and .pdf format.

Tracking your time should be your habit

By noting when and how you get distracted, what are your peak hours, and when you use the breaks, you gather data essential for optimizing your 8-hours workflow.

Take breaks unapologetically

If you are having an 8-hour workday, it’s suggested to take a 5-minute break after every 25 minutes of work, or a 10-minute one after every 50 minutes (we call it a Pomodoro method). Try on different work/break methods, and decide which one works best for you.

Don’t squeeze yourself for each minute of those 8 hours It’s important to know when to stop working, and the 8-hour work schedule is a great place to practice that. To optimize your productivity during this framework, embrace the structure and enjoy the time off also when you finish early.

Final Thoughts

A 9-to-5 gives a structure, reliability, discipline, and expectancy to your work schedule. Here we tend to normalize the option of having an 8-hour workday since it has certain benefits. Just like many other factors about work productivity, this choice is also based on one’s personal preference.