"Why I decided to introduce a 20-hour work week for my staff."

When Sydney-based PR Agency The Atticism decided to introduce a 20-hour work week, the aim was to encourage staff to focus on their health and lifestyle as much as their work.

For Director Renae Smith, who appeared on Masterchef Australia in 2014, the need for change came when she realised she was “burning out.”

“I had panic attacks every week and I was even admitted to hospital for heart palpitations,” she says. “I would wake up to four missed calls at 7.30am, 30 or so emails and then receive calls and emails well into the night.”

“I tried to take a holiday and went to Europe and found myself working seven hours a day and totally wasted my money as I barely got to do anything. I just cried every day because the emails wouldn’t stop and I couldn’t even have a holiday.”

Her health deteriorated to the point where she was hospitalised, and she realised she wasn't alone in what she was experiencing. "We aren’t paying attention to the world," she tells Mamamia. "We’re living in emails, social media and online - we cant even walk down the street without being on our phone. I think we’ve lost touch with our environment."

So, she decided to implement "out of office days" for her staff. They were instructed to work in the office only 20 hours per week, and Renae made sure all clients were aware of the change to office hours. Now, staff work Tuesday - Thursday, and are encouraged to work remotely (and only part time) on Monday and Friday. For Renae, Friday is specifically a "work from the beach" day.

Madeleine West shares her tips for working mums. Post continues after video.

Carolina Are, Account Manager at The Atticism, says "I love the creativity of PR, but since I have depression and anxiety I struggle with the idea of being 'always on' and with putting on a brave face everyday to then crash and burn at night."

"This working schedule allows me to be at my best and focus on my work without feeling like I have to pretend all the time."

But Renae says the benefits are even broader than mental health. She says one of her staff "has a two-year-old and she found she wasn’t having enough ‘one on one’ focused time," which she now feels she's getting. Renae herself describes finding out "my kids were getting marks at school I didn’t know about, and assessment notes I missed," but adds that overall, her staff fundamentally learn "about the PR landscape by actually being in it more."

I asked whether she worries that having people work remotely defeats the purpose of a 20-hour work week, and might be just as intense. But she assured me of the benefits. "When we work remotely - the work can be often as intense - but for myself, I find that I look after myself more," she said. "For example - I set up at North Bondi sometimes and work there - and I am outside, listening to people talk, watching the waves, moving...it’s not in a chair staring at a screen for five hours."

"Its much healthier," she added.

Renae also reiterates that with the agency's "new focus," it's not all about the working hours. There are a number of principles she wants her staff to follow, such as:

1. Take time to eat.

If you need to eat, do it.  Focus on eating.  Don’t eat at your desk and really enjoy your meal.  20 minutes away won’t crash the world, but you’ll feel better for it.

2 Talk!

If a client is stressing you - talk about it.  Sometimes having someone to vent to or share some concerns with is the best thing.  If you screwed up, tell someone - I find my team is really open and honest about how they feel and this really helps.  Even me - as the boss I am not immune from getting upset and I’ve even had my staff give me pep talks when I need it!

3. Manage your time.

I am all about work life balance - but when you’re at work - you have to WORK.  Clients still need results and I still need to reach goals and targets - being better organised really helps.  We have special filing systems for our desks, we have processes of what we do for a few common situations and we are one of the most efficient teams I’ve ever seen in action.

4. Look after yourself!

We drink herbal teas and eat very well here - each of us has a flavour we love and we make tea for everyone whenever we can.  We really focus on healthy energy - and not sugary or caffeine related energy.

Renae does, however, acknowledge there are shortcomings to the 20-hour work week model. "As the Director of the company I am less able to commit to this than my staff," she says.

"I have been doing this business for almost five years now - and when I was building it - I don’t think 20 hours would have worked," she adds. " I needed to get to the stage I am at now and to gain the experience I have to be able to carefully structure how we do things so this is possible."

It's definitely a revolutionary idea - and one many companies seem to be looking towards in the future.

Featured image of The Atticism office via COMMUNE.