This week, instead of promoting my book, I’d like to share an idea with you. Read it through and see for yourself if it has merit.  It has been on my mind of late and seems to make more sense every time I think about it. It’s the 4-10 Rule.

What do you think about creating a new standard?  A standard that accomplishes a number of things.  It can increase disposable income.   It can reduce greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles by as much as 20%.  It can increase the amount of time you can spend doing your own thing by up to 20%.

Are you tired of spending over 70% of your time contributing to corporate profits while leaving less than 30% of your time to be spent with the ones you care about?  You’re not alone.  That’s why I think this simple standard should become commonplace worldwide.

What I’m talking about is the 4-10 rule.

What is the 4-10 rule, you might ask?  Currently, most people work 5 days a week, 8 hours a day.  This was fine at one time, but now it has become too costly and cumbersome.  What if the work week was changed to 4 days of 10 hours each?  1 less day of commuting per week can solve a variety of issues.  It reduces traffic, fuel cost, unnecessary emissions, and most importantly, time.  For most people, an extra 2 hours of work a day is no big deal.  The benefits of having an extra day to oneself would more than make up for it.  There is less rushing around to get things done with an extra day to accomplish those objectives.  There is more time to spend with family, which has social benefits in a variety of ways.  There is more time to physically and mentally recuperate from the work week.  This would make for a friendlier, more relaxed workplace.  Instead of losing 70% of your work on behalf of a corporation, you would only be giving 57%, while accomplishing the same amount of work!  From a corporate standpoint, what difference does it really make if you complete 40 hours of work in 4 days instead of 5?  Often, corporations require being open longer days to accommodate late shoppers, so this would work in their favour.  As for the day you are off, most corporations have enough staff to alternate time off.  There are ways to work around this.

No matter how you look at it, spending less time in snarled traffic and making fewer stops at the pumps would be a benefit to everyone except the oil companies.  The 4-10 rule is simple, easy to enact, and is very beneficial.  Any forward-looking corporation would see the benefits of this rule and would be wise to be one of the first to introduce it to their organization.  They would undoubtedly have increased interest in job openings, and applications would be pouring through the doors.  They would be able to hire prime candidates away from other corporations that don’t have this 4-10 rule, simply because of the flexibility it gives the potential employee.

With 52 extra days off, we could eliminate the need for statutory holidays. Any business would jump at the chance to avoid paying their staff for nothing!  It’s a win – win situation either way.

As for the environmental impact, what if most of the world adopted this rule?  There would be over a billion cars off the road, not being used for commuting, for 52 days of the year, that’s equivalent to seven weeks or nearly two months!  Just think of the positive impact this would have on the environment.  Although this is not the only way to reduce emissions, it is certainly an easy one to accomplish if we work together to make it happen.

If you agree with this idea, pass it on!  If enough people desire a change like this, it will reach the ears of employers everywhere.  Before long, it can become a standard that only makes sense from a financial, environmental, and time saving standpoint.

The 4-10 rule.  You heard it here first!  Spread the word!