Name: Microshifting.

Age: Born during the pandemic.

Appearance: Blink and you’ll miss it.

**What is it? **It’s like microdosing, but for work.

That doesn’t help. Microshifting means meeting your employment responsibilities in the hours that suit you.

**Isn’t that called flexible working, or hybrid working, or working from home? **Microshifting is an extreme form of hybrid working – breaking down work into short, non-continuous blocks according to your personal productivity patterns or domestic requirements.

**How would that work in practice? **You might concentrate on your job for an hour early in the morning, then play tennis until lunchtime. Or you might spend a whole Tuesday afternoon socialising, and work late into the night to catch up.

That’s just being disorganised. Not if you’re doing it on purpose. Then it’s microshifting.

**Why would you do it on purpose? **To fit your work around your personal commitments, instead of the other way round.

**What personal commitments? **You know, childcare, medical appointments, shopping, exercise, your other job.

**Sorry – your other job? **Nearly 30% of hybrid workers have some kind of second job or side hustle, according to an Owl Labs report on the future of working.

I thought we were all supposed to be going back to the office full-time. That is, to an extent, still the reality: according to the report, office appearances are creeping up for hybrid workers – 34% are in the office four days a week, up from 23% in 2023.

**How does that square with microshifting being the future? **The microshifting trend is being driven by employees. The report says workers would willingly sacrifice 9% of their annual salary for more flexible hours.

**Wow. When do we think microshifting will kick in? **It’s happening now: 51% of employees already schedule personal appointments during traditional working hours. That rises to 61% for gen Z workers.

Gen Z: still making it all about them. Microshifting isn’t just for the younger generation. Millennials also have commitments that may benefit from a more flexible employment schedule.

**I suppose if you’re getting the work done, it shouldn’t matter how undisciplined or selfish you are. **With all the time saved by not commuting or sitting in an office with nothing to do, microshifting could even prove more productive than a traditional nine to five.

**How would we know? **Good point.

Do say: “The boundaries of the workday are being redefined, and employers would do well to adapt.”

Don’t say: “We had something very like microshifting in my day. We called it ‘taking the piss’.”