We started the four-day week as a three-month trial in September. A year later nobody wants to go back, but the reasons surprised us.

The first thing that changed was Monday. With one day fewer, the week could no longer absorb a slow start. We began writing the week’s three priorities on Friday afternoon, so Monday opened with a decision already made.

The second change was meetings. We cut the standing ones by half and gave every remaining meeting an owner who could cancel it. Most weeks, two of them get cancelled.

Output held steady. Our readership grew by a third over the year, and we published the same number of pieces. What we lost was slack: the Thursday that used to hide unfinished work is now the day it has to be finished.