Are you tired of working five days per week? Welcome to this week’s episode of Future Work.

Today I am honored to welcome Alexandra Samuel, a speaker, data journalist, and the co-author of Remote Inc.: How to Thrive at Work...Wherever You Are – one of our favorite remote work books.

Alex holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and her writing on work and productivity appears frequently in the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

Here are the key lessons to stay ahead in the future of work:

1. A New Way to Friday: Fridays have become ambiguous – is it still a workday? Alexandra highlights three solutions: going back to the office, creating a 3-day weekend, or, as she advocates for, an in-between where the office closes and no meetings are scheduled so you can better balance work and life.
2. The Challenges of a 4-day Workweek: As Alex says, we’re conflating activity with output and output with value. The hours you spend at your desk do not determine the value you contribute to your organization. So, does it matter how many days you work?
3. Impact of AI on Work: Alex shares the huge impact AI already has and will have, including the displacement of white-collar jobs. She shares we may have to rethink what constitutes a full-time job. The pace of AI is accelerating so fast. Adaptability and continuous learning are essential for us to participate in an AI-driven future of work.
4. Managers and AI: Leaders should cultivate that sense of adaptability in their teams. Alexandra says she’s gobsmacked that companies and managers don’t allow their teams to use AI. It’s use it or be replaced, she says. For this, three obstacles have to be removed: - Companies need to allow AI to be used at work. - You need to have time to experiment. - You have to become one with the fact that AI is hard to learn as it develops so quickly.
5. Becoming a Business of One: As managers, enable your team to deliver that one brilliant hour of work that trumps 25 mediocre ones. This means giving them time for renewal and coaching them to get the most out of it.

1. Alex’s Final Thought: We’re on the verge of a beautiful transformation in the nature of work. We’re in a moment where we can rethink how much of our lives is spent at work. And how much of our work is spent on tedious stuff. Because the AIs don’t care about tedious, they really don’t mind.

Future Work is a weekly newsletter and bi-weekly podcast to help people-centric leaders stay ahead in the future of work.

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