Hence, like days are compared to like days for sales reporting purposes. The layout of the calendar lines up holidays and ensures the same number of Saturdays and Sundays in comparable months. The 4-5-4 Calendar serves as a voluntary guide for the retail industry and ensures sales comparability between years by dividing the year into months based on a 4 weeks – 5 weeks – 4 weeks format. What is the purpose of the 4-5-4 Calendar? Many stores began using the 4-5-4 Calendar in the 1940s. A calendar that maintained the same number of weekends in comparable months was desired and the 4-5-4 Calendar was developed. This calendar became problematic as Saturdays and Sundays became an increasingly large percentage of sales, since the number of weekends in a month varied year to year.
Prior to and during the 1930s, retailers used a straight calendar to report monthly sales. The 4-5-4 Calendar, which is widely followed by retailers today, was derived in the 1930s during an informal inter-industry discussion. Remember, it’s far more productive to rest for short periods than it is to keep on working when you’re tired and distracted.īreaking your day down into chunks of work and rest that match your natural energy levels feels good, makes your workday go faster, and boosts your productivity.ĭo you notice your energy and focus waxing and waning according to the cycle described above? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.When and why was the 4-5-4 Calendar created? Keeping to your schedule ensures that you work when you’re the most productive and that you rest during times that would otherwise be unproductive. If you wait until you feel tired to take a break, it’s too late-you’ve already missed the window of peak productivity.
On a busy day, it might be tempting to think of dealing with emails or making phone calls as breaks, but they aren’t, so don’t give in to this line of thought.ĭon’t wait until your body tells you to take a break. Breaks such as walking, reading, and chatting are the most effective forms of recharging because they take you away from your work. Getting away from your computer, your phone, and your to-do list is essential to boosting your productivity. Likewise, those who took deliberately relaxing breaks were better off than those who, when "resting," had trouble separating themselves from their work. In the study at Draugiem, they found that employees who took more frequent rests than the hourly optimum were more productive than those who didn’t rest at all. When you disrespect your hour by texting, checking emails, or doing a quick Facebook check, you defeat the entire purpose of the approach. The interval strategy only works because we use our peak energy levels to reach an extremely high level of focus for a relatively short amount of time. Sign up here to get top career advice delivered straight to your inbox every week. Subscribe To The Forbes Careers Newsletter People who have discovered this magic productivity ratio crush their competition because they tap into a fundamental need of the human mind: the brain naturally functions in spurts of high energy (roughly an hour) followed by spurts of low energy (15–20 minutes).įor most of us, this natural ebb and flow of energy leaves us wavering between focused periods of high energy followed by far less productive periods, when we tire and succumb to distractions. Your Brain Wants An Hour On, 15 Minutes Off This helped them to dive back in refreshed for another productive hour of work. When they felt fatigue (again, after about an hour), they took short breaks, during which they completely separated themselves from their work. They didn’t check Facebook “real quick” or get distracted by emails. For roughly an hour at a time, they were 100% dedicated to the task they needed to accomplish. People who maintained this schedule had a unique level of focus in their work. The ideal work-to-break ratio was 52 minutes of work, followed by 17 minutes of rest.
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