Last year we did something crazy. We took back Wednesday and dedicated a full day to getting shit done. Our policy is simple: Wednesday is for 8-hours of uninterrupted work time. No client calls. No meetings. Just a full day of head-down time, aptly named “Get Shit Done Wednesdays”.
So, one year later how is our policy faring?
Our culture is better for it
Something as simple as calendar control has had a profound effect on our culture. Having more control over our week has improved morale and our Wednesday work ethic has poured over to other days of the week. We saw the effect that time blocking had on our work life, so naturally, we began replicating it. Now, individual team members are taking control of their own schedules. For me, that means, Thursday and Friday mornings are wide open for distraction-less working.
Plus, our new members love it. The latest marketing coordinator to join our team, Kyle Weber, mentioned that get shit done day was a huge selling point when he applied to Stryve. Kyle’s norm, pre-Stryve, was trying to get work done in 5-minute increments between client calls and team distractions. Now he has focused time to kick ass.
Our clients love it
Our clients seriously dig that on Wednesdays we are getting shit done. They respect that, as creatives, less distraction translates into better work. Some have seen the effect of our time-blocking strategy and have tried implementing their own versions. You might even say we’re starting a work revolution (we wish).
Sometimes it’s hard
Anyone in client services will tell you that sometimes you have to bend to keep your clients happy. As we grew, scaling GSDW became more difficult. A larger team meant more projects. More projects meant more clients, each who have their own jam-packed schedules. We’re not going to sugarcoat it: sometimes Wednesdays get hijacked.
The good news? As a team, we were conscious of making these concessions. We make them the exception, not the rule. We bend, but we don’t break. As a team, we keep each other accountable. If someone plays fast and loose with our schedule, we have a candid discussion and work together to find a solution.
We’re actually getting shit done
Wednesday has easily become the second-best day of the week for us Stryve’rs (you didn’t expect us to forget about Friday right?). We’ve been able to use our time more productively, and when we are in meetings, we are that much more dialled in. We’ve learned how to work smarter and we’re all better for it.
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