The four-day week gets talked about a lot, but what happens when you stop talking about the theory and start measuring impact properly?

In this episode of Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data, smarter - Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks to Charlotte Rae, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Sussex. Charlotte is one of the UK's leading quantitative researchers on the impact of the four-day working week. She explains how the Sussex 4 Day Week research project studies real employers, real staff, and real outcomes to understand what changes when businesses move to working time reduction.

From productivity and sleep to motivation, meetings, AI, and whether the "honeymoon effect" wears off, this is a brilliant conversation about what the evidence says and where the practical challenges still sit.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The difference between working time reduction, compressed hours, and part-time working

• How the Sussex 4 Day Week programme helps businesses prepare, trial, and measure results

• Why productivity rose by around 8% on average in the trial period

• Why improved sleep appears to be linked to improved productivity

• How motivation and behaviour change drive better output in less time

• Which sectors and business sizes are best suited to shorter working weeks

• Why most four-day week businesses do not simply shut on Fridays

• How AI may help enable shorter working weeks, but only if used in a structured way

Topics we cover:

• Four-day week models explained

• Measuring productivity, wellbeing, burnout, sleep, and motivation

• Why little tweaks often beat big grand changes

• The role of rest, recovery, and hobbies

• Sector differences: knowledge work, manufacturing, care, rota-based businesses

• Which non-working day businesses choose most often

• Long-term stickability of the four-day week

• Whether AI could accelerate working time reduction

About the guest:
Charlotte Rae is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Sussex and leads the Sussex 4 Day Week research project. With a background in psychology and neuroscience, she applies a rigorous, data-driven approach to studying how shorter working weeks affect productivity, wellbeing, and workplace performance.

Links and resources mentioned:

• Sussex Four Day Week: https://sussex4dayweek.co.uk

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com