While the chronoworking trend encourages us to sync our working day with our natural sleep and wake cycles – prioritising our hardest task for the parts of the day when we’re most energised and productive – the idea of windowed work follows a similar idea.

“Instead of a standard 9-5 workday, windowed working can look like setting core hours – 10am–2pm, say – where teams come together to collaborate,” explains career expert Victoria McLean, founder and CEO of career consultancy City CV. “Outside of these windows, employees are free to manage their time as they see fit.”

For example, the hours of 7–10am could be used for independent tasks like replying to emails or preparing presentations for those who work best in the morning, leaving the late afternoon free. Night owls could take longer breaks throughout the day in order to knuckle down post-dinner from 8–11pm. The key is the ability to work flexibly on a timeframe that suits you, while also being able to engage with the other members of your team when needed.

How to split your day up using ‘windowed work’