It isn’t quite officially summer yet, but here at Lemonly, summer began right after Memorial Day.
One of the perks of being a lemonhead is on every Friday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, your week is over when you’ve logged 38 hours — that’s two hours early for those of you counting! You can read more about why our CEO added a summer hours benefit to our repertoire from this past blog post.
To get a feel of what the lemonheads really think about summer hours themselves, we did a short Q&A. Maybe you can show this to your boss and they’ll grant you the same perk!
Have you worked somewhere that has offered a similar summer hours benefit?
Morgan: No.
Amberly: Yep!
Brett: No.
Amy C: Nope.
What is your favorite thing about summer hours?
Molly: I imagine it as the adult version of summer breaks as a kid. Taking away summer breaks can make for a rough transition into the working world. It helps keep the excitement of summer alive!
Amberly: Picking my daughter up early and enjoying a few more hours of outdoor time with her.
Amy C: I can get a jump on weekend travel, or spend more time outside on a weekday.
Chris: I love that it allows us to get a head start on the weekend and enjoy the nice weather.
Do you feel like your productivity goes up or down on Fridays during summer hours? Why?
Molly: Definitely goes up. I know there is less time to get stuff done, so I try to maximize productivity.
Tess: Definitely. I like to know that all of my work is done and knowing that I only have a few hours in the afternoon helps my focus.
Brett: The total amount of work done stays the same, so I would say productivity goes up since there is less time to do it. The last two hours on a Friday are generally the least productive anyway.
Amy C: Same. If I have a deadline, I’ll stay ’til it’s done anyway, puts an incentive to move quicker on a day that is notoriously less productive.
Amy T: I think most clients are unresponsive on Friday afternoons during the summer months so it forces us to start working earlier, which ends up being a better use of our time.
What will you be doing with your extra time? Do you have anything fun planned?
Morgan: Totally depends on what I have going on that weekend, but I’ll usually use that time to either make sure everything is packed up and run last-minute errands if we’re taking off for the weekend. If we’re staying here for the weekend, I’ll be using that time to be outside for sure.
Amberly: Taking my daughter to the park, swimming pool, zoo, whatever we can do outside to enjoy the sunshine together!
Michael T: I hope to take my dog, Rosie, on a couple longer walks, and use the extra time to practice piano.
Chris: I typically spend Friday afternoons in the garden taking care of some weeding and watering. We always have one of the best looking gardens in our plots 🙂 It also allows me to do “chores” on Friday so I can spend the weekends doing fun things.
How does summer hours impact the Lemonly culture?
Molly: Summer hours help enforce Lemonly’s culture of trust and accountability. I think leaving work early on Fridays also helps keep everyone’s excitement levels high and just makes for an overall fun atmosphere.
Tess: I think it shows that John and Amy care really about us. The summer hours are a great example of work hard, play hard — which is something Lemonly is great at — we’ll put our heads down and work for 6 hours, and then we can play. It also adds a level of trust in the employees, which is a big part of our culture.
Brett: It’s positive, and one of many things that make our culture unique.
Michael T: It’s just another way the leadership shows that they trust us. With that trust, it helps me take more ownership of my work, and in turn, I do a better job.
