An interesting insight into working a four day week.

As a work from home person it gave me some tips and things to think about to make my work and my life more streamlined.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

"Thursday is the New Friday" by Joe Sanok is a compelling read that challenges the traditional five-day workweek and offers a fresh perspective on productivity and work-life balance. Sanok's book is a revolutionary approach to redefining our relationship with work and leisure.

The central thesis of the book is that a four-day workweek can lead to increased productivity, higher earnings, and more time for personal pursuits. Sanok backs this claim with practical exercises, tools, and training that have helped many professionals reshape their schedules. The book is grounded in psychological research and real-world applications, making it a practical manual for anyone looking to transform their work habits.

Sanok's writing is engaging and accessible, filled with anecdotes and success stories that inspire. He doesn't just preach a new work paradigm; he has lived it, transitioning from 60-hour workweeks to working four days or less. This personal touch adds credibility and relatability to his message.

One of the book's strengths is its emphasis on psychological flexibility and the importance of questioning the industrialist mindset that equates longer hours with greater output. Sanok's methodology is about discarding unnecessary tasks and discovering efficiencies that lead to a more fulfilling work and personal life balance.

"Thursday is the New Friday" is a must-read for those feeling trapped in the cycle of overwork and for anyone seeking to gain control over their time. It's a book that doesn't just change schedules; it changes lives. Sanok's vision for a four-day workweek is not only revolutionary but realistic, offering a blueprint for a happier, more productive society.

If you work from home, and your work life feels out of balance. This is a must-read.

I'm always chancing a more streamlined week where I can crush it at work, have time for my family, AND have a moment to myself to relax. This book aims to help you figure it out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

One of the most interesting works on this topic so far. Joe Sanok shows us a fascinating view of the 4 day workweek, one very much suited to the new work-from-home world a lot of us live in now. A book to read twice - once to understand it, and once to apply it.

The 4-day workweek is a hot topic especially in light of the global pandemic and this book aims to help people be more used to the concept of having Thursdays be the new end of your workweek.

"Thursday is the New Friday" offers a refreshing perspective on work-life balance, advocating for reduced hours and increased productivity. Joe Sanok shares advice and stories to inspire readers to prioritize their well-being and pursue a fulfilling lifestyle, making it a valuable read for those seeking better work-life alignment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy to review.

Thursday is the New Friday appealed to me as I transitioned into a WFH position and needed to build a new outlook on work/life balance. The author provides solid supporting resources, relevant facts, and engaging experiences. I found a majority of the points made through this book, not revolutionary, but eye-opening to the way we may approach our schedules and productivity. I recommend to everyone, not just anyone WFH, but anyone with obligations that find a way to consume the days and leave minimal time for things we enjoy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Leadership for providing a digital copy for my honest opinion.

Thursday is the New Friday provides useful tips to increase productivity and shorten the work week so that you can spend more time with your loved ones or pursue hobbies of interest.

I love anything to do with how to manage our time efficiently. However, it was too many examples but little to none of the practical to-dos. Sure, it's important to learn from examples but I feel like not all have the same problems that can be solved with the same tricks.

"Thursday is the New Friday" promotes instituting a four-day work week instead of five. I thought it was an interesting premise, and it's written in an easy-to-read style. I really appreciated how the author took the time to explain the historical and conceptual framework behind the concept rather than just list off tips on how to reduce work hours.

However, I also only made it a few chapters into this book. I felt like the book was making a heavily one-sided argument without addressing the concerns or problems that could be raised against its main thesis. I'm not sure if the author addresses this later in the book, but it felt more and more like I wasn't getting a fair and balanced view of the topic. Of course, that could be because the book's main goal was to actively promote something (a four-day workweek) as opposed to just a general inquiry into the topic.

I found the chapter on the history of the workweek especially interesting. It made me really stop and evaluate how I view time and schedules. Where did those viewpoints come from historically? How are they affecting my life? It caused me to ponder this topic so deeply that I've actually made lifestyle changes based on what it made me discover about myself.

However, the history of the workweek chapter also had certain inaccuracies that bothered me. They coincided with an underlying bias that I was starting to notice pop up in other parts of the book. This might be something others enjoy if that bias coincides with their own worldview, but it is not something I like to read.

This book was a good read about the process of working. I thought it was originally going to be a book about how to make a 40 hour week into 4 days (e.g. 10 hours per day), but it was much more than that. With the new employment shift, I think this concept can ... and should ... catch on. Listen up, employers! Start with 4 days a week and make everyone more productive! I especially enjoyed the history of how seven days per week (five days a week working) evolved.
A very good book that is Highly recommended.

A really useful resource on reframing your working life, aimed mostly at those in control of their workload/working hours. I’m hoping to implement some ideas into my business (but that’s the smaller part of my income- less scope in my full time job). I enjoyed the historical analysis of how we ended up in a 5 day working week, I wasn’t expecting that from the blurb so appreciated it as a good addition.

This is an immensely practical guide for anyone who wants to work smarter - not harder. The author has conducted his fair share of masterminds and workshops on this topic with real people, so the quizzes and advice given here are more realistic than in many other books on slowing down.

Before diving into the workload slashing, however, there's an entire section about getting to know your strengths and weaknesses (are you naturally curious, do you take action even if it's not entirely perfect) that's designed to help you focus on key areas of your worklife and pinpoint what's draining your time.

There are also helpful tips on how to slow down without feeling guilty, and how proper rest actually helps us be more productive. The final sections are about the power of short and focused sprints as an antidote to long, pointless days spent with our backsides in chairs doing busywork.

I definitely recommended this to anyone who's self-employed or runs their own business and wants proven and research-backed ways to boost their productivity. Or to anyone who's realized during the pandemic that it doesn't actually take them 50 hours a week to do their jobs.

However, the typos and the few instances of chunky non-flowy writing were disappointing - the book needs a good edit before it's thrown into the world (I read an advanced copy from NetGalley).

I also found it bizarre that the author mentioned a lab rat he had in school who he'd deprived of water for half the day - just for the insight of seeing the rat frantically push a buzzer for a single drop. Really, do modern adults still do these Victorian-style "experiments" to learn obvious facts?

Instead of flippant mentions of pointless animal abuse, perhaps the point could be better made in a way that befits a civilized human on a planet - which we're no longer the center of - that's burning to death.

Sorry, little guy. Still very much worth reading.

THURSDAY IS THE NEW FRIDAY by Joe Sanok offers suggestions, as the subtitle says, for "How to Work Fewer Hours, Make More Money, and Spend Time Doing What You Want." He notes that we are in a transitional time and includes a manifesto which says in part, "our human potential is being limited by mindless and useless work instead of the impactful work that sits quietly inside us." I respectfully think that this depends on the industry where one is employed. COVID has made it harder for many to find that "quiet inside," but the chance to work remotely will hopefully be retained for many people, pushing us all closer to the kind of work-week that Sanok is advocating. His tone is rather strident and condescending (referring to the Industrialists, for example), but he offers a sincere hope for "a world where our brains feel calm with less anxiety and coordinate with nature ... when it’s time to work, we are so excited, creative, and productive that we leave work wanting more."

An amazing title. An amazing topic. A good read.

This book broke down into three sections: why we do what we do, science of slowing down, and the hustle narrative.

My favorite parts of this book were the scientific reasoning and case studies behind why we should move towards a four day work week. I appreciated how this took into lifestyles and working environments navigating this post-COVID world.

This book gives exercises, tools, and trainings to create the schedule you want and to help you work less.

I would have enjoyed more case studies and scientific facts that map out how and why we should make Thursday the new Friday. Instead each chapter categorized you into ‘types’ with a multitude of reflection questions that in my opinion geared you away from the mission.

This book didn't have very much information that was new to the subject or the genre of working shorter, happier workdays. While it tried to be the new Four Hour Work Week, it wound up deviating from the main theme by the second chapter. Because of the lack of focus, this book didn't really serve it's purpose.

This book was a good read about the process of working. I thought it was originally going to be a book about how to make a 40 hour week into 4 days (e.g. 10 hours per day), but it was much more than that. With the new employment shift, I think this concept can ... and should ... catch on. Listen up, employers! Start with 4 days a week and make everyone more productive! I especially enjoyed the history of how seven days per week (five days a week working) evolved.

Nataly Kogan had Joe Sanok on her Awesome Human Hour on Wednesday. He was talking about his book Thursday is the New Friday. I admit that this one was in my NetGalley queue to read and review, but I was dragging my feet for some reason. I thought the book was going to be along the lines of the 4-hr work week or something, but it was so much more. In the AHH session, he was taking about how our concept of work time was developed by the Industrialists and how we have seven days in the week because the ancient Greeks needed better telescopes. That had me intrigued. In the book, there were a lot of mentions of not just the history of work but also the psychology. Examples such as the theory of how work will fill the available time you have for it as well as the number of staff. A lot of the book was about mindset shifts and habits. I am very intrigued by the idea of how it takes 26 minutes to reset after interrruptions from work. It concepts back to a lot of concept I have read from other authors. I highly recommend managers read this book because the workforce is changing since the pandemic started (and even before that!) and this helps explain a little of why that is.

The first chapter is very captivating! It feels like many peoole who wants to have a quality life need this book. However, the other chapters doesn't really explain about the work hours. I thought I read another book with another topic.

This was a light & enjoyable read. I’m not sure I learned anything new but it did remind me of a few things when it comes to work/life balance. I found the history of the work week very interesting.