Such a good question, Erica! I first want to say how amazing it is that you’ve internalized the concepts from the PPSC so quickly and are already ready to take action, based mostly on your value of time. I love it!
It’s understandably nerve-wracking to ask your boss if you can cut your hours, especially when you know that there’s more than enough work to do all the time. My suggestion is to approach it this way: Ask your boss if you can try something for 1 month, or 3 months, or however long you want to “test run” it. Say you’d like to see if you can be more productive in less time, and ask if you can cut your hours to 32 each week while implementing some productivity strategies (maybe try “blackout” hours each day when you don’t allow any distractions, or say “no” to meetings that you don’t really need to go to, etc.). Then, you can meet with your manager again at the end of the “test period” to see how it went.
What’s great about this approach is that 1) your manager won’t feel as threatened because it’s only a “test,” (for now, at least), and 2) you’ll be more motivated and engaged in your work during those 32 hours because it’ll feel worth it to get an extra day of freedom each week. If you try this and your boss wants you to go back to 40 hours after the trial run … well, at that point it’s up to YOU if this is a place that can align with your values long-term.
Hope that helps!