The Business of Shaping Future Minds
Setting your brain free to create, innovate and critically think.
Episode 18
EPISODE 18 The Four-Day Week Experiment: What Science Tells Us
Could a shorter working week make us more productive, less stressed, and better at our jobs? In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Charlotte Rae - neuroscientist, lecturer, and Co-Lead of the Sussex Four-Day Week project - to unpack what the science really says about work, wellbeing, and performance.
From national and public-sector trials to live research with UK businesses, Charlotte shares what happens when companies trade hours for outcomes. The results may surprise you: productivity doesn’t drop, revenue holds steady, and talent retention gets stronger. For leaders navigating hybrid models and shifting employee expectations, the four-day week could be more than a perk - it might be the future of work itself.
Tune in as we explore the evidence, the challenges, and the cultural shifts needed to make shorter weeks work in the real world.
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We are Brainy Podcasts
Welcome to Brainy Podcasts the Business of Shaping Future Minds where your co-host’s Soraya and Tracy have conversations with leaders in their field, fascinating, inspiring, everyday, extraordinary people about why creativity, innovation and critical thinking are so important in their work, and how keeping their brains healthy frees them to focus on future potential and success.
With Soraya being a leading Applied Organisational Neuroscientist, we naturally lean into how the brain works, alongside our combined commercial experience and 20 plus years working as Executive coaches, with leaders across multiple industries, we share practical tools, tips and techniques to help you develop and transition in this fast moving world.
Together we explore the fundamentals of creativity, innovation and critical thinking. How to create environments that let the social brain flow, without barriers and optimal performance. The importance of brain health for confidence, gravitas and resilience. Using the brains neuroplasticity and how to shape new behaviours, thinking patterns and emotional regulation.
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