Would you work a slightly longer week day for three day weekends?

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Big-Neck8348@reddit

This is sort of what I do. Currently work 9am-18:30pm Mon-Thurs so that I can finish at like 1pm Friday, and the pay-off for the sacrifice is amazing. Feels like I have a 3 day weekend every week, for what feels like only finishing a little later each day. I can run errands and get pretty much every weekend chore done on a Friday afternoon, leaving a completely free weekend. Would take this routine to any future job if it’s available.

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thecuriousiguana@reddit

I do. I work 8 until 6, Monday to Thursday.

It's great. Honestly, it's great. Sure, I have to get up early but that's a very minor downside.

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HikingOtter@reddit

I do that. I work 4x10 hours day with 3 days off. It's an absolute game changer for everything! Suddenly you have so much more time.

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txteva@reddit

Yes I do, 8am til 6pm for a 4 day week - Thursdays is my extra day off (alongside weekends).

I've been doing it for years and wouldn't go back to the usual way.

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tommycamino@reddit

I'd quite like to do compressed hours for a 9 day fortnight: an extra hour a day for a day off every other week

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lfcmadness@reddit

My wife does this, has every other Wednesday off, she loves it, just wishes she could have every Wednesday off hah!

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tommycamino@reddit

Wouldn't she prefer a Friday or Monday?

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Emergency_Mistake_44@reddit

Wednesday's off mean you never work two days in a row and any time you're in you can either say you're off tomorrow or have just come in from being off. Mentally game changing in my opinion.

(Assuming it was a Mon-Fri to begin with).

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tommycamino@reddit

I'd still prefer longer weekends!

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BoopingBurrito@reddit

A lot of businesses are reluctant to allow a Friday or Monday off, because everyone wants those days off so you can easily end up with almost no one in if its allowed. If you're putting in a flexible working request for some form of compressed hours then you're more likely to have it accepted if you ask for a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

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lfcmadness@reddit

No, she likes to break the week up so she's never too far from a day off

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Rootbeeers@reddit

I am very very productive Monday-Thursday, Fridays are an absolute slog. I’d call for a 4 day work week for everyone is possible.

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anonymouse39993@reddit

I don’t want longer days at work

I just want to work one less day

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notanadultyadult@reddit

My husband’s firm does this. They dropped every other Friday. No change to working hours on other days, no change to pay. They just take every other Friday off.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Yes I think this is what many industries will end up doing.

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Rough-Interaction-11@reddit

Depends, if you're self employed, to gain an extra weekend day (if you work 10 hour days like me), you'd have to work an extra 2.5 hrs, so 12.5 hour shifts. I don't see my industry doing that as they can't even work more than 6 hours on a Friday. If you work in the private sector, I think making your workers work 12.5 hour shifts is nearly illegal, especially when you take into account that you legally have to give them 11 hours of rest in between shift. Plus I don't think there are many people who'd be willing to work such long shifts unless they're on a 4-on 4-off system which Is what I have worked in most of the factory jobs I've had, and tbh even that was quite tiring. Of course all of this only matters if you care about your employer in the slightest ( something rarely seen nowadays)

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jackgrafter@reddit

They said that they don’t want to work more hours, they want to do a regular day but fewer of them, so less hours.

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Rough-Interaction-11@reddit

That's not exactly fair though is it. I understand the thinking of "f**k the employer", but at the end of the day the employer is the one who pays your wages, and working 6 hours less a week (based on a 10 hour work day) comes out to quite a bit of lost time. The loss of profit does not incentivise the provider of work, and why should it? Everybody nowadays wants to do less, and get more for it but that's not how the world works really

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andtheniansaid@reddit

Everybody nowadays wants to do less, and get more for it but that's not how the world works really

Yes, including businesses that want to pay less, but still get more productivity. https://fraserofallander.org/link-labour-productivity-wage-growth-uk/

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SaltEOnyxxu@reddit

They could just employ more people instead of spreading the workload onto fewer employees.

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Historical_Project86@reddit

In an era where jobs are going to be scarce, and UBI will hopefully be introduced, working less hours is going to happen. Looked at another way, there's no evidence that reduced hours leads to reduced productivity, when going from 5 days to 4.

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371_idle_wit@reddit

'Productivity' isnt a thing in many lines of work though, for those jobs, a reduction in working hours from 5 days to 4 would require employers to increase their staff numbers by 20% to cover the lost hours. Can't see many getting on board with it.

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jackgrafter@reddit

Take a deep breath for goodness sake. I didn’t mention getting more money, or fucking over employers. For all I know the person who posted may be happy to be paid less for doing fewer hours.

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

So you want a 25% pay rise? What do you offer in return?

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Colleen987@reddit

That’s 20%. Not 25%. In return I will not leave my employment.

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rkr87@reddit

With math like that, maybe they'd be better off without you.

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EchoesofIllyria@reddit

Maths

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Colleen987@reddit

Im sure I’ll live as a cry into my 28.5% pay rise this year for no change in my 4 day week.

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Colleen987@reddit

Was dividing 100 by 5 hard for you?

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slade364@reddit

That's 90% fewer hours, right?

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bps706@reddit

It's 25% pay increase effectively.

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Colleen987@reddit

And a 20% work reduction.

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rkr87@reddit

I can only assume the downvotes on this post are people that think it's 20%... I despair at the state of our countries, the reform voters are one thing, but the people claiming to be morally superior/smarter (Reddit users tend to be left leaning) are also dense as fuck.

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nitram1000@reddit

We’re supposed to be discussing how workers should be rewarded because tech enables them to be so much more efficient than they were in the past, yet all I’m seeing are arguments over simple percentages. 😆 🤷🏻‍♂️

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AgentAceX@reddit

Yeah it's a 20% drop from 5 to 4 or 25% increase from 4 to 5.

Percentages don't work both ways, same as if your stocks go down 50%, you then need a 100% increase to get back to where you started.

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ignoramusprime@reddit

If we all do it, employment goes up, house prices drop, rent drops and it all balances out

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gridlockmain1@reddit

Why would house prices drop?

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ignoramusprime@reddit

Everybody has less money. Like how when we moved to the majority of households having dual income, house prices went up and up and people look back in misty eyed wonder at how a postman with a family of 3 and a stay at home wife could afford a 3 bed semi in Wembley.

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gridlockmain1@reddit

Everyone has less money

Except you also said that employment goes up, presumably as people previously struggling for work now have access to the hours that others have cut back on?

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ignoramusprime@reddit

That’s right. But the average household income for those privately buying or renting is lower.

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gridlockmain1@reddit

But there will be more people in said market as now more people can afford to buy and rent

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ignoramusprime@reddit

True. But our pounds sterling of income available per family would be lower and perhaps there are ceiling effects there. But maybe you’re right and it would net out. Maybe we need more houses. In any event, we all work too much in order to consume too much, or try to. A balanced Iife is not what we have currently, imho.

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-anotherr-throwaway-@reddit

It would be a 20% raise not 25%

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rkr87@reddit

Nope, 20% reduction in hours, 25% pay increase.

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EdmundTheInsulter@reddit

Oops maths fail, if you got £400pw for a 40 hour week you'd be in £10 an hour, but if you did 4 days it'd be 32 hours so you'd get 400/32 = £12.50 an hour.

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Scott_Of_The_Antares@reddit

'Yeah, and I want my lesbian neighbours to be way hotter than what they are'

The Vulture, B99.

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colin_staples@reddit

But you still want the same pay, right?

Because it's easy to work one less day. Go part-time. Reduce your work time by 1 day / 20%, and take a 20% pay cut.

But most people want to reduce their work time by 20% for no pay cut.

And that's not going to happen.

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Responsible_Club_638@reddit

Except theres loads of companies who have trialled a 4 day week with no loss of pay over the last year or two and what they've found is that productivity has actually increased in most instances. Most of them have decided to continue after the trial.

Who know people were more productive when they get sufficient rest

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colin_staples@reddit

A small-scale trial is one thing.

But will it scale? Will the behaviour of the people in these trials translate to zero loss of productivity if it goes national? And which companies will pay the same as before vs demand a 20% reduction in pay?

And what about hourly-paid employees, who make up the majority of workers in the UK? Cut their hours by 20% and output will not remain the same. So neither will their pay.

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Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit

What is the next stage? Wider roll out ?

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Responsible_Club_638@reddit

Im not sure to be honest, the previous Tory government weren't fans despite the evidence and forced a local authority to abandon their trial despite it showing initial improvements. I dont imagine this new Labour government will push on it as they are so worried about looking 'woke' and trying to appease Reform voters. Unfortunately you have the standard British attitude to it as evidence by the commenter above that because they've had to work 80 hours week without lunch breaks or holiday then everyone else should be miserable too.

Best we can hope for really is that the evidence keeps building, more and more organisations try to implement it and maybe some more influential businesses pick it up in the future to give it more publicity.

In theory all these advancements with technology and AI etc should mean we can all benefit from the increased productivity amd have more leisire time but you can guarantee the only people who do will be the CEO's and shareholders.

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Kpowell911@reddit

What justification have you got for this?

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daydreamingtulip@reddit

AI is supposed to be making us more productive, so why do we need to be working 5 days a week still?

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nitram1000@reddit

AI is more productive, not the human. Be careful what you wish for as a 0 day week could be round the corner.

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wasdice@reddit

A lot of people could get all their weekly work done in half a day. Let's share out the slack and give everyone a 4 day week.

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No-Acadia5648@reddit

We don’t need justification to want more leisure time

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Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit

The number of hours that counts as fulltime work is completely arbitrary, it ranges anywhere between 35-42 hours anyway, which is a huge difference. People used to work much longer hours but the maximum number of hours you can work has been capped repeatedly by law, lowering the average full time hours in the process. This completely failed to destroy the country.

Some companies have trialled 30 hour weeks and seen no loss in productivity.

So, what is your justification for keeping the full time working hours at the current arbitrary level?

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First-Lengthiness-16@reddit

That’s what they want.

What other justification do they need??

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lmaoschpims@reddit

Same

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kachuru@reddit

This

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buginarugsnug@reddit

No I wouldn’t. I agree a three day weekend is great, but I wouldn’t want to work longer on the four days I do work, there’s already not enough time in the evening, never mind if I worked longer!

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petrolstationpicnic@reddit

Start earlier!

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buginarugsnug@reddit

I’d then want to go to bed earlier which is then the same evening situation.

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petrolstationpicnic@reddit

I do ~45 hours in 4 days, its great! I work 6am-5ish.

Ive worked in hospitality my whole life so 65-70 hour weeks are normalised and this feels like part time!

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Adrekan@reddit

Took what was a completely negligible pay cut to take every wednesday off. Work 2 days, day off, work 2 days and weekend is bliss. If I wanna swap it to a Friday I can do but I hate working more than 2-3 days in a row due to burnout.

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WJC198119@reddit

I do, it's great

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Beginning-Still-9855@reddit

I can do that 2 weeks a month, but even though I've got the hours available., I don't. Don't know why.

My colleague took a pay cut to go to 4 days a week to spend time with his mum.

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Lunaspoona@reddit

When I did nights, I did 4 on 4 off 12 hour shifts and it was the best! Knew my rota, had a mix of weekend and weekdays off, 4 days AL meant 12 days off.

Was the dream (except the pay was rubbish!)

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glasgowgeg@reddit

I did 4 on 4 off 12 hour shifts and it was the best

I did that, and the inconsistency of your days off was a nightmare, was the worst part of it when it came to planning stuff, you'd never know if you were going to be off in x weeks time without sitting and working it out.

Now I work 3 x 12 hour days a week, and I know I'm always working either Fri-Sun, or Sat-Mon, but I always have Tuesday through Thursday off.

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clanshephard@reddit

Did that for a fair few years, 2 days 2 nights 4 off. Problem was trying to organise a social life with working 4 or 5 weekends in a row if the shift included nights. Made meeting up with mates quite difficult. Our annual leave was worked out in hours so a 12 hour shift had to have 12 hours booked off.

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Oh-Its-Him-@reddit

I do this and couldn’t recommend it more. I do 8-6 4 days a week, having every Friday off to spend with my one year old son. It’s a game changer. 8-6 is a bitch, but I found myself kinda doing them hours anyway - just without the pay or benefits lol

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DazzlingClassic185@reddit

Yes, in a heartbeat. 32 over four days as opposed to 37 over five sounds great

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0rachael0@reddit

i went from a four day week to a five day and i still have friday feeling every thursday it’s horrible, only work 5 more hours than i used to as well but get a lunch break now

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Particular-Bit-5153@reddit

I work slightly longer days so that I get a 3 day weekend every other week. I really enjoy it and manage to get so much more out of the weekends when there is 3 days.

Having it every week would make my working days get a bit too long for me though.

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Empty_Cherry6995@reddit

I condense my hours, 36hrs over 4.5 days and don’t work Friday afternoons, means I can enjoy my weekends be getting all my jobs and stuff out the way on a Friday.

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Dear_Tangerine444@reddit

Years ago I used to work flexi-hours, I worked my hours for 5 days into 4.5, it wasn’t a lot of extra time per day, and it meant I got to take every Friday afternoon off. Honestly life felt a lot more chill.

I was a lot more productive and the work always got done. I couldn’t do that now due to some life changes, but I’d highly recommend it to anyone who can. Now if I could find someone to pay me 5 days but only require 4 days work… that’d be even better.

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FriendlyLlama07@reddit

I have a full time, Monday to Friday office job. Recently had flexi working approved and now work Tuesday to Friday but longer days (7:45 to 5:15) That extra day off a week is life changing. I no longer feel I spend most of my life at work.

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Superb-Ad-8823@reddit

We did something similar in the printing trade where we had a 3 day weekend every two weeks.

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gunbo3000@reddit

I do this - I work 8-6 Mon to Thurs and have Fridays off. Me and my wife both do it different days for childcare reasons, luckily we have accommodating employers.

Honestly? So good. I'm going to struggle to go back to normal if I ever have to. Ignoring the obvious benefits I have of a dedicated day off with my kids and the saving of childcare costs etc. I feel more energised for work, the weekends aren't so "sacred" so I'm less precious about them and to be honest its kept me at a job with lower salary etc. because it works so well for me.

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WoOKiee-@reddit

Warehouse worker here that does 4 on 4 off 7-7. If you don’t mind half the year working weekends it’s pretty nice

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livnessmonster@reddit

There’s currently a bill going through parliament to adopt a 32 work hour week (I.e. 80% time for 100% pay). Many companies have trialled it and it’s been an overwhelming success. I don’t know how this isn’t front page news. If anyone’s interested, look up the 4 day work week website.

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thelandtrout@reddit

I work slightly longer work days so I have a three day weekend once a fortnight. This balance works great for me to be honest. It's not so much longer every day so I often clock it up accidentally and I love the three day weekends. It also means when I am around every other Friday, people have kinda forgotten I'm there so I can fly under the radar and actually get work done without having meetings etc in the way.

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Illustrious_Bus8440@reddit

If possible we should work to task and not to time! Appreciate this is not possible in every industry, but making people stay in an office when there isn't much to do, or a project has finishes or can't moved on yet seems crazy.

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Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit

I’ve got 12+ hours of tasks a day so screw that!

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Illustrious_Bus8440@reddit

How wonderful.

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deadpanpecan@reddit

Yeah. We recently piloted a project. During the pilot stage, we were at the mercy of applications coming in. No applications meant literally no work. So we had to come into the office to genuinely stare at and click around a screen. I tried to do something innovative, and start a community where people could share best practice, and to make use of office time. Got told I should have asked a manager to remove people from their desks for more than 15 minutes. Desks they were doing genuinely nothing at. It’s absolute insanity.

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MrPogoUK@reddit

A lot of people in offices are spreading sometimes significantly less than 8 hours work over 8 hours so they always “look busy” all day. Much of the misconception about people working from home slacking off comes from that setting instead allowing them to just work solidly for say 5 hours and then having no more work to do, and so doing other stuff instead of just pretending to work.

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sunheadeddeity@reddit

Every Friday in the office was basically a half day, people disengaged after lunch and the levels of chat and general wandering around and coffee drinking increased dramatically. And yet the country carried on!

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Herbacious_Border@reddit

Yeah when I was in the office full time, Friday was a 'go to the pub at 12 then maybe come back to the office by 3pm' deal.

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Resident_Rush_7498@reddit

Im a firm believer in a relaxed atmosphere at work, reduces stress, social interactions boost collaboration, people feel more connected etc

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sunheadeddeity@reddit

Oh absolutely. No criticism from me. But it gives the lies to all the productivity arguments for being in the office.

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Resident_Rush_7498@reddit

I'd rather be at home not gonna lie, but if I'm going to be in the office I want a warm, friendly, sociable atmosphere!

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BoopingBurrito@reddit

Also important to keep in mind that, for a lot of office jobs, it's necessary/sensible to have excess capacity built in - when an emergency (in the business context) happens, you need to be able to handle it without everything else being stopped, or if people go off sick/on leave it doesn't harm the overall performance. Ideally a team should be able to function without a performance decrease with 20% of their staff missing.

This is something that American corporate culture (and ours is being dragged along behind) has moved away from, in order to save money. And what happens is that the cost is transferred from the business to the staff - the extra work still needs done, but instead of the business providing the resources, staff end up having to do extra hours.

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Ok-Chest-7932@reddit

In my experience, if more work needs doing than people can do, it just doesn't get done and delays appear. The boss may complain, but there's not much he can do, even forced overtime clauses can't go above 48 hours. And if he fires you hoping to replace you with someone who will work overtime, he loses months of productivity while finding and training the next guy.

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xSEARLEYx@reddit

There is proven benefits to a 4 day work week and a 3 day weekend. It’s been shown to increase productivity. I work 8-5 atm, I wouldn’t increase that past 5pm tbh though, I’d probably be more accepting to start at 7 if it means I get Friday off. But it has to be for the same or more overall pay.

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Iasc123@reddit

I used to work 8.am - 6.pm in manual labour. Found I was just as tired doing an 8/9 hour shift as I was doing the 10 hour shift! All work and no play...

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ThatchersDirtyTaint@reddit

I once worked a 4 on 4 off shift pattern. 6am to 6pm with no change to the shift times. It was glorious. Another benefit was working a 45 hour week which helped with the pay in the role.

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xSEARLEYx@reddit

I’d like that, until 2 of the 4 on days landed on the weekend. That’s a deal breaker for me

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Namiweso@reddit

Wouldn’t that only happen once a month?

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xSEARLEYx@reddit

No it could be for multiple weeks in a row I think

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thickasabrick89@reddit

I work 7- 4:45 (it used to be 4 days a week full time but I've dropped to 3 days a week part time now- have a child) and having a day off in the week is a total game changer

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Wrong-Target6104@reddit

Problem is, doing a single 12 hour shift is bad enough, doing 4 back to back is awful. Looks great on paper, but by the time you get to those 4 days off you're just too wrecked to enjoy the first two and then running round playing catch-up with the last two you don't actually get to enjoy them. That's with a sedentary job, let alone a physically demanding one.

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HappyHippyToo@reddit

I do 8-5pm to get off work at 2pm on Fridays and even that makes a huge difference so yes absolutely.

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animalwitch@reddit

I'd happily do 4, 10 hour days. I guess I'm lucky that I don't work in an office and quite enjoy my job lol

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YorkieLon@reddit

Me and my partner do this now. I have Fridays off, my partner had Mondays off.

We save a lot of money on childcare, and we both have our respective days off with our daughter and get some quality one on one time. Then the weekends we get to spend it all together. Ive been doing this for 2 years now.

My performance at work has massively increased, my mental health is a lot better, and I actually feel refreshed on Mondays. Its great and should be the norm.

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Sea-Opening3530@reddit

I think people probably fear it's less productive, however it's likely that most employees are probably running at 30-60% of their max efficiency.

How many times have you all actually finished a working day fully exhausted, thinking that you gave it 100% of your effort?

I can probably count the number of times on one hand in the last 15 years, if not my entire working life.

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nerdalertalertnerd@reddit

By Friday I’m fully coasting away tbh

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nerdalertalertnerd@reddit

I would. But as others have said it doesn’t work for all. However, I think where possible employers should have specified hours per week/ month or per project and trust the employees to divide as needed for them.

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thereisalwaysrescue@reddit

I work 0700-2000, 3 days a week. Never would I go back to 5 day working!

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Jasey12@reddit

I work 10:00-22:00 Monday & Tuesday, 10:00-17:00 on a Wednesday, and 07:00-15:00 on a Thursday, I get 2 x 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch break on my normal shifts, and an extra 30 minute break on 12 hour shift, every Friday/saturday/Sunday off. If I could change it; I’d do 3 x 13 hour shifts to make up my 39 hours but other than that I love it.

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irishmickguard@reddit

I already work 12 hour shifts so my work week in never more than 4 shifts unless theres overtime. Couldbt go back to 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week. Fuck that.

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CaveJohnson82@reddit

No. I want to work 4 days a week and there is not a single thing that will convince me this isn't doable for and preferable for most people.

Surely the whole point of automation and streamlining should mean human beings can have more leisure time?

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Sure_Winner4374@reddit

There’s a few companies now that run a 4 day working week, it’s very possible to have that balance and not need to work more for it

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PM-ME_UR_TINY-TITS@reddit

I do the opposite 12 hour weekend for the week off. It has its perks.

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sambonjela@reddit

people are no more productive on a 10 hour day than they are on an 8 hour day. I remember reading about an organisation that trialed 4 hour days and these were the most productive - people came in and fully focused for those 4 hours. Lets have 4 4hour days, if people choose to work over that because they are engaged in a task and want to finish it, that's up to them. Lets try it and see what happens!

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GetCapeFly@reddit

I do already. Love it. Take a Monday as a non-working day and you end up with about 5 days of bank holiday entitlement back each year!

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Subject-Motor-5652@reddit

I worked Tuesday - Friday full time in a NHS role for 6 years or so. Honestly the best job I ever had. I was much more productive, all work still got completed on time within deadlines. I was lucky enough to be able to afford to accept 80% of the salary.

The difference in work life balance was definitely worth it.

It's a myth that productivity goes down I think. I used to see the full timers coasting through their fridays or WFH. Also, most of them would clock in at 9 but not actually start work until 9:30 (chat/tea/procrastination). As I only had 30 hours I never did any of that. I didn't have time to waste.

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thegreyman1986@reddit

I do. I work 13hr days, Monday to Thursday, then have every Friday, Saturday & Sunday to myself

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Whole-Bank9820@reddit

Went from mon-fri 9-5 to four 12 hour shifts then 4 off then after 3 cycles I get 10 off. It has transformed my mood in a good way

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Ok-Island9905@reddit

Absolutely ideal! A 4-day workweek with 3 days off feels like the perfect balance. Enough time to rest, get things done, and still be productive. Three days off isn’t too much, but just right to actually recharge. Four workdays feels way more sustainable long-term

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BeingDry8553@reddit

Yes, even 3 very long for 4 off

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Bread-But-Toasted@reddit

I have a 4 day work week, paid for 5. Haven’t worked a friday in over 3 years

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Vogue1A@reddit

This is so weird just coming across this Reddit.

I do the usual 9 - 5 and have been considering for some time to see if I can do 4 days at 7 - 5 so I can have every Friday off.

Very much doubt it but I am seriously thinking of asking.

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Apprehensive-Mix7192@reddit

It depends what the job is. We were pushed to do 8-6 four days a week in nurseries in North Ayrshire. I hated it. The only people it really benefited was the council because they employed less people. I was exhausted by 4pm so the afternoon children did not get the best of me and not everyone can get a Friday off. I now work 8-1 as I’m winding down to retirement and absolutely love it xx

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Sasspishus@reddit

I used to do 9 hour days so I could take every other Friday off, but it wasn't worth it. I hated working that extra time. It's better if I take a half day every Friday, but in order to take all day off every Friday, I'd have to work 10 hour days, and I'm not willing to do that.

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libsaway@reddit

Honestly, probably not. I work 9ish to 6ish, if that got extended to 8ish to 7ish, I'd have far less flexibility after and before work. Currently I can have a dentist appointment, get to work, do my day, leave, go home, go gym, change, go to pub.

Not so easy if I'm losing two hours.

Especially if most people still work 5 days a week.

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_scorp_@reddit

Already do it - works great

Compressed week is the way forward

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Spirited_Opposite@reddit

At my workplace we do this, we started about 18 months ago (I work in adult education) and it is honestly fantastic. I can't imagine ever doing a full 5 day week again. It means that you have a day to do all the boring life admin stuff like cleaning etc and then have a full 2 days of time to relax (assuming you don't have children or other big responsibilities I guess) it also means I'm able to help out other friends/family who have young children and childcare issues

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Medical_Amount3007@reddit

Why would you work longer to get a day off, we are globally discussing 4 days work week so supposedly should be the same hours we work? Depending on the field ofc.

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ConradMurkitt@reddit

I am doing it.

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Fatbloke-66@reddit

It's probably possible to do that now. In our place, we have people who work a 9 day fortnight. Working 8 hours a day (instead of 7.2) for 9 days to cover their allotted contract hours. Then have every second Friday off.

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adm010@reddit

I work a 9 day fortnight with slightly longer days. A long weekend every other week is bloody amazing. It makes such a difference

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Bskns@reddit

Many of my colleagues do but I prefer the flexibility of 7 hour work days over 5 days. If needed I can shift my hours to work less on a given day, but I don’t do it very often because I’ve got too used to my 7 hours 😂

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JimCoo1@reddit

Damn straight.

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deadpanpecan@reddit

Yes. I do 8 hours 45 a day. My job is relatively low stress and allows me to work hybrid. If I was to work in the office each day I couldn’t do it, as my days would just be far too long.

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Upper-File462@reddit

Yes, or just 32 hrs a week.

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Routine_Signature_67@reddit

We tried this at work but management stopped it because they were working long days and working the extra day. I was sticking to it religiously and it vastly helped my mental health and general work life balance. It was frustrating to have that taken away based on other people's lack of time management.

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Jcw28@reddit

Not saying this was the case for you, but I know for a fact we couldn't pull a 4-day week off because many people would end up working extra anyway (as happened in your case) because the staffing isn't sufficient to allow us all to work less. I don't have enough time as it is to get all the things I need done in 37.5 hours a week. If that was 30 or 32, and I stuck to it, I'd just be creating a bigger and bigger backlog every week. So it wouldn't be poor time management, but a case of too much work for too few people.

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Ok-Chest-7932@reddit

I had someone in my team leave last year who, when they left, it turned out had done almost a month of unpaid extra hours over the course of 3 years. At that point it's not work ethic it's madness.

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Jcw28@reddit

Exactly. Myself and a lot of my colleagues do loads of extra time off our own backs, not because we love the job but because stuff won't get done otherwise. To some degree I say stuff it and it's not my job to pick up the slack for a lack of staff, but other things you just have to do because of external deadlines or for priority clients etc.

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JohnnyOneLung@reddit

Yeah you may have had yesterday off, but when you finish work today, you have only done 25% of your working week.

Whereas when I finish today I have done 40% of my working week.

So who is the REAL winner eh !!!!

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Randa08@reddit

Yes I compressed my hours so I now work a 4 day week.

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kylehyde84@reddit

My fiancée does this. Does a 40 hour week in 4 days and has a Friday off. By all accounts it's glorious

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steveakacrush@reddit

My employer offers this as one option in our flexible working agreement.

We can do any of the following:

40 in 5 days = 8 hour days = 5 day week

40 in 4 days = 10 hour days = 4 day week

80 in 9 days = 9 hour days = 9 days in 2 weeks

Most people take a Monday or Friday off for a 3 day weekend, but some take Wednesday.

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Antique_Surprise_763@reddit

Weekend Wednesday is nice. Even if you feel awful on any particular week you are never working more then 2 days in a row. Its like every other workday is a Friday

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Ok-Chest-7932@reddit

It also means you're never more than 2 days away from a free day in case any urgent matters come up that need attending to.

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bornfromanegg@reddit

Fuck. I don’t even do 40 hours in five days.

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Frugal500@reddit

I just switched to 9-6.30 and 45 mins from 9-5 with an hour lunch. Absolutely life changing much better way of working.

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Ok-Chest-7932@reddit

I would prefer 32 hours to 40 hours. I would prefer 4x10 hours to 5x8 hours.

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Objective_Mousse7216@reddit

Companies should do a trial of everyone works a four day week and see if the profitability, productivity and general well being improves. If it does, it becomes the norm, if not, back to five day work week.

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Lowmen_yellow_coats@reddit

That's not the 4 day week I want tbh.

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stowgood@reddit

I do 5 days in 4. It's been fantastic. Well the Friday has at least.

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quenishi@reddit

I can work compressed hours if I wanted to. I don't want to.

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BourbonSn4ke@reddit

All this is great if you happen to be a 9-5 office lacky, problem is alot of areas also include shift work or unsociable hours to keep a business running, but if you have a problem there is no one in over the weekend to fix it and now that would include Friday.

It should be an option for everyone tbh, not just the middle classes

[-]

anoamas321@reddit

No,

a 9 or 10 hour day would fuck my my daily schedule around childcare and etc.

I can accept doing 5 days a week if it means I can do school drops/pick ups and get every evening with my kids

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Graz279@reddit

I'd happily do this but there's zero chance of buy-in from my employer.

I work in what would be considered a "professional" role in software engineering and I get paid quite a lot to do so, but as result of that there's an expectation to put in few extra hours here and there when things are behind schedule or not quite going to plan.

If I'm now trying to fit 37.5 hours into 4 days there's zero chance of getting any extra out of me. This would be fine by me but I'm not sure they'd see it the same way.

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raddit95@reddit

I do this already, working 8-6 Tuesday - Friday. Love having a 3 day weekend!

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Glittering-Orange620@reddit

And teachers?!?!

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TheYorkshireGripper@reddit

Deal with it? Nobody asked you to do teaching lmfao

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Glittering-Orange620@reddit

Do teaching? Nice touch.

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beneyh@reddit

Didn’t the government ask for more people to get their teaching qualifications?

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TheYorkshireGripper@reddit

People do have free will to pursue whatever job they want?

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beneyh@reddit

Couldn’t agree more. But a 4 day week for teachers seems reasonable to me considering the mental effort required

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Forever_a_Kumquat@reddit

They already get an insane amount of time off. They don't need even more.

*Waits for the "but they do work over the holidays marking and creating lesson plans" *

Not they don't. My mother was a teacher for 20 years. She did fuck all over the summer holiday.

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TheYorkshireGripper@reddit

ChatGPT has probably made teaching a fuck ton easier tbf

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LocationOld6656@reddit

Oh yeah, it's super easy now the children refuse to listen because they'll get a computer to fake an essay that doesn't make much sense.

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TheYorkshireGripper@reddit

I mean teachers using chatGPT for planning lessons in your subject during evenings and holidays.

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Effective-Zucchini-5@reddit

Ah yes, your mother: the archetype of every single teacher. When did she retire I wonder? Not in the last 10 years I bet.

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beneyh@reddit

Don’t worry my Mrs also does fuck all over the summer holidays, as she should but the residentials, sleepovers, SATS, CE etc does all add up

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TheYorkshireGripper@reddit

I do agree with you, that teaching is a hard job, my point was just that if you have a job for example Policeman, Fireman, Paramedic, Teacher you know that the job involves going above and beyond, and that stuff like working a lot/undesirable hours, for example, Christmas day, just comes with the jobrole, I do really believe that people who do all of the above are hard workers and do deserve their flowers.

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beneyh@reddit

Oh fully agree, people choose to do those job roles for sure. My sister is a paramedic, comparatively I do fuck all for my job against what she does on a day to day basis 😂😂

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First-Lengthiness-16@reddit

Agreed man. Teachers don’t get enough time off at the moment.

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UniquePotato@reddit

You have more Holidays

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sc00022@reddit

You mean the 13 weeks of holiday wasn’t already enough? That’s almost 3x what everyone else gets

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slimboyslim9@reddit

Most teachers work a 50 hour week so multiply that by the 39 weeks of term you get 1950 hours. Divide that by a normal 37.5 hour week and you’re at 52 weeks.

So the equivalent of working all of every week of the year.

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beneyh@reddit

Considering the overtime they work for no extra pay, I’d say the 13 weeks barely scrapes the barrel for what they’re owed

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Key_Magician6000@reddit

I work 8,5 hours for 4 days and 1 day for 4 hours which is already super nice, breaks the week. I can get my chores done in the afternoon and have a more relaxed weekend. Or go shopping on a day when there is barely anyone.

At my company there is also the option to work 1 week 5 days and 1 week 4 days so you get a full day off every other week which would be nice too.

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ChangeImpossible6304@reddit

I work full time hours over 4 days and have a 3 day weekend (F-S). Best thing I ever did! I don’t work the conventional 9-5 hours, I work hours that suit me. I am around during the peak hours but choose my hours in the morning/evenings (before school run/after child’s bedtime) and it works really well. Highly recommend if your company allows.

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Unlikely_Project7443@reddit

I'm currently doing a 3 day work week. It's fantastic. My work is always quiet for around 3 months during summer, so I just drop my hours and work mon-wed. Works out great.

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RookieDuckMan@reddit

I do think a 3 day weekend is the way forward, but many places are still stuck in their ways and don’t want to change

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Nok1a_@reddit

I wont, to be honest, I think we are in the time where we can allow to work 4 days a week and have 3 days of with full salary, but companies and who are in charge of them are pretty greedy, you can see Tesco/Sainsburys how much extra revenue are getting increasing the prices of everything and lowering the buying price of the food from farmers...

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GoogularBlib@reddit

I do a 9 day fortnight, so I do my full time hours over 9 days instead of 10 and have every other Friday off. It's well worth it.

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Public-Guidance-9560@reddit

THis is actually happenening at our place. I've heard of several people now renegotiating with HR to move to a 4-day week. But working the same hours. It works out about 1.6 hours extra per day for 4 days based on our standard hours.

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MrLugem@reddit

I work a 4 day week. Longer days for the 4 days. It’s way better than working 5, I love it.

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yearsofpractice@reddit

Yes. Absolutely. Any day that has work in it is ruined anyway, so I’d happily use more of that ruined day to have more non-ruined days.

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Richard__Papen@reddit

Yes, but also why is a standard week 37.5 - 40 hours? Why not 30?

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Loud-Neat6253@reddit

I do 2-12 shift every other week and have Friday off. I love it, I get loads done in a morning.

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SuboJvR23@reddit

I already do, 37.5 hours over four days, best thing I’ve done for work

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djk162@reddit

I wouldn't mind working a 4 days work week.
As long as I take home my fifth day coffee suply ☕

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SnooSquirrels8508@reddit

I already do. I work 50 miles away from home, so I do four 10 hour days. One from home and three in the office. I have Fridays off and it's changed my life.

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melat0nin@reddit

If you take a step back, it's faintly ridiculous that we spend 2.5x as many days working as we do resting/having fun/etc. It's incredible how accustomed we've become to such an imbalanced lifestyle. Consumer capitalism has really done a number on us.

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joselleclementine@reddit

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/29/workers-to-be-given-new-rights-to-demand-four-day-week/

Law apparently planned for last autumn. What happened, anyone?

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Wolfeehx@reddit

I've spent the majority of the last 20 years working a 3 day week. In a 4 week rota I have to work one 4 day week (random week). The shifts are 12 hours. We cover 365 days a year. Unless we've specifically shift-swapped, shifts can include weekends - if you're working a weekend, you're working both days by default. It's rarely a struggle to swap one or both days of a weekend if you need to as there's generally someone who wants the extra money.

The improved work-life balance from typically having 4 days off a week is staggering. General life administration is easier when you can access shops and services easily on one of your days off. It's easier to get and to attend appointments (healthcare, car service, etc). There's more rest and recuperation. I can lead a healthier lifestyle - better eating, more exercise.

I, and my colleagues always found that when we worked say 8am - 4pm in a 5-day week the rush-hour traffic meant that the commute home could be more than double - in my specific case it goes from \~15 minutes to \~an hour. Then when you get home you're too knackered to actually do anything anyway. We're no more tired after a 12 hour shift, and we are the same amount of too-knackered to do anything, but it feels more natural to just have a snack, go to bed, chill & go to sleep - but then you have more days off to actually do your own thing.

Another downside to 8 hour shifts / 5 day week, when we were working them, was staggered-start - if you were starting at say 10am or midday, you had to leave for work MUCH earlier as you now needed to account for rush-hour travelling to work + the endless circling of the car park to find a space - which isn't an issue with the earliest start time.

Then there's break / lunch. We don't get fixed / directed break times. It's extremely common on the 8 hour shift to just not have time for a break because of the amount of work to be done, but with a 3 day week we either push through and front-load all the work, then down tools \~ 4-5 pm to have lunch, or, if work allows, split the work into two halves and take a break somewhere in the middle.

While it's less critical for me personally (but still relevant to an extent), I (& colleagues) find that 3 day weeks make arranging care (childcare, adultcare) significantly easier.

Then, finally, there's the issue that on an 8 hour shift it was extremely common to end up in an unavoidable situation where you were working over. Getting that TOIL was a nightmare. With the 3 day week, we work from when the department opens, to when it closes, if there is a situation that requires working over, it's viewed very differently and TOIL is not disputed.

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Outrageous_Shirt_737@reddit

I used to do this, it was awesome. 2-12 Monday to Thursday and a three day weekend every week. What was even better was that they gave us our holidays in days, rather than hours, so my 20 days gave me 5 weeks off, rather than the 4 weeks the day shift got 😁

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Willing_Coconut4364@reddit

No, we should only work 3 days a week. It's the 21st century. We really don't need to do more than that to keep society running.

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ArcticSailOx@reddit

That’s what I do and it’s fantastic.

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ClacksInTheSky@reddit

No.

That's a shit 4 day week.

A 4 day week is supposed to be 4 days for the same pay, not condensed hours.

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SneekSpeek@reddit

Yes I work 10 hours Monday-Thursday which gives me Friday off and a 40 hour pay cheque. Best decision I ever made, especially with a newborn

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EatingCoooolo@reddit

In the summer yes, I'd start BBQIng and Djing at midday and be nice and tipsy by 6 but that can get old quickly. I can already work from abroad so going on a city break on the Thursday I can already do now.

On average I'd probably just watch tv with my free day.

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MasterReindeer@reddit

I would like a 4 day work week, 1 day where my wife thinks I'm working but I'm actually just playing games and a 2 day weekend.

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OutdoorApplause@reddit

This is what I do, but I work slightly less than full time (but more than 4 days a week hours). I work 31.5 hours a week in four days. I do it for childcare reasons but I love it. My husband does full time (35 hours) in four days also for childcare and that's a bit tougher. The ideal would be 28 hours in 4 days and paid for 35 obviously.

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ClemDog16@reddit

Yes and no

If it’s my current job sure!

If it is hospitality, then absolutely fuckin not - everyone else’s Friday night is our Monday mornings, plus we have to usually work bank holidays, Christmas, new years etc whereas many people don’t

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dasouch@reddit

What's a weekend?

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culturerush@reddit

I do this at my current job, I work 8-6 Monday to Thursday

When you first do its amazing to have a 3 day weekend. Once you settle into it though you really start to miss having time in the evenings after work. I get home from work around 7 usually and my wife gets up for work at 5 so I'm pretty much in, food and then bed. If I have any work to do when I get home (which is most nights at the moment) I basically don't see my wife during the working week.

It has pros and cons. I'm considering dropping to 4 normal days or 3 long days due to us being in a lucky financial situation but losing a 1/4 of your income is tough

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Sylvester88@reddit

Yea, I do. 10 hours Monday-Thursday then Friday-Sunday off

I wake up at 5am every day so might aswell start work at 7

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BoopingBurrito@reddit

No. I have the option and I've chosen not to. I did it in a previous job, at a call centre. 4*11 hour shifts per week, 3 days off. I needed the extra day off to recover so it ended up being wasted, and I lost my evenings on each of the 4 days I was on shift.

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ilikebiiiigdicks@reddit

No. I’d rather we recognise that the 5 day work week is stupid and most people are not busy working 40 hours a week. I’ve been doing office jobs for 12 years now at various places. Apart from a few random busy periods I average about 4-6 hours of actual work a day. The rest is spent trying to look busy, talking to people, on the toilet and generally wasting time.

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KingWilba@reddit

I do this, 4.5 says over 4 so I only lose half a day's pay after tax it's well below the cost of nursery.

So I get an extra day with my son and a day off work.

Obviously 4 days at full pay would be the ideal situation.

But this is a great stop gap that I don't think I'll change once he's out of nursery.

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shaneo632@reddit

I do compressed hours where I work like 2 extra hours Mon-Thurs to have Friday off. I love it because I basically have half the week off once work ends, but no I wouldn't make my work week longer (say, going from 35 to 40 hours) to have an extra day off.

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nitram1000@reddit

Have a 3 day weekend by all means, and for simplicity increase the week to 8 or maybe even 10 days.

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Comfortable-mouse05@reddit

No I don't want to work even more

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Embarrassed_Buy_6030@reddit

I changed to a 9-day compressed fortnight recently, asked for 4 day week but wasn't expecting to get it. Realistically I could do all my work in 4x8 hour days but that's not going to fly.

I have to get up a little bit earlier and stay a little bit later (which would happen frequently anyway) and I get every other Friday off. Even with pro-rata reduction in holidays I'm physically in work 23 days less a year IIRC. 10/10 would recommend.

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hoochiscrazy_@reddit

Yes absolutely, I've been asking my employer for this for like 6 years now :'D

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sossighead@reddit

No. I value the time in my evenings to do regular exercise.

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ShampooandCondition@reddit

I do 8 - 5 Mon/Weds, 8 - 4 Tues/Thurs and then 8 - 3 Fridays and that extra two hours is a godsend on a Friday.

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zen_1991@reddit

I don’t want to work at all but I’d rather take one less day. I already work over time for little to no reward.

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JennyW93@reddit

I do compressed hours Monday to Thursday with Fridays off. The trick is to wfh and to do your additional hours early, before anyone else starts their day.

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Khaleesi1536@reddit

This is what I do, log on about 6am and finish around 4. I always logged on early anyway, so I actually just finish later than I normally would

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HankHonkaDonk@reddit

Yeah we switched to an extra hour every day but no Fridays and it is genuinely fantastic having a 3 day weekend every week

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El_Scot@reddit

I do and don't. I don't want to work 10 hour days (12 hours out of the house before extracurriculars), but I'd appreciate the extra time. I'd prefer a happy medium with 32-34 hour weeks condensed to 4 days.

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Iwantedalbino@reddit

1,000,000% give me 4x10s over 5x8s

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SwooshSwooshJedi@reddit

No. We should get the extra day anyway. We have some of the longest working hours in Europe and it doesn't help productivity at all

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purplechemist@reddit

After two days with the kids I’m exhausted… work is welcome respite.

Teachers have my utmost respect and do not get paid enough!

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solar-powered-potato@reddit

I do 8-6 Mon-Thurs with a 1hr break for lunch and cathartic screaming in the middle (my job is stressful right now). I loved it at first, but finishing at 6 is a pisser, I feel like I'm scrambling just to get dinner made and get out of the house for a walk in the evening before it gets too late.

Thinking of asking if I can go to 7-5 or 8-5 with a half day Friday to balance it out.

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clanshephard@reddit

If you are working a stressful job you will never finish at lunch time on a Friday. There will always be the preassure to do just "one more thing" and you will be lucky to get out of there an hour early.

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solar-powered-potato@reddit

😭😭😭 I know, it's one of the reasons I wanted to move to a Mon-Thurs rota in the first place. My work has huge peaks and troughs, there are times in autumn and winter when I'm realistically wrapped up by a Thurs lunchtime and was fed up being trapped at my desk all day Fri just in case someone decided to bother me for something silly that could wait. Then there are times in spring and summer when I don't even get my lunch break and leave things unfinished on a Thurs night. It does all balance out overall probably, but that doesn't really help when you feel like your head's about to explode and there's still two months of the summer rush to go!

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barriedalenick@reddit

I've done it before. Mainly shift patterns that meant I worked 3 or 4 x 12 hour days a week. Hours worked out roughly the same as 9 - 5 over the long run. It was great.

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Sgt_major_dodgy@reddit

I currently work 5 x 6 day weeks and then get 8 days off.

I actually love it compared to doing Mon-Fri, I sometimes miss having Saturdays off but realistically I'm only at work from 8am - 1.30pm and I'm only outside walking from about 10.30 so it's not too bad.

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InsidiousAy@reddit

I already do and it's such a plus, for me Friday is the chores day where I can get all the housework done, do the weekly shop without it being too busy and any other tasks that get left mid week. All that out of the way I can actually enjoy my weekends doing whatever I want rather than what I have to! Only downside is the odd time I do work a Friday the weekend ends up feeling so short

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MiddleAgeCool@reddit

Yes. Condensed hours has been shown to increase both productivity and employee happiness, in themselves not necessarily at work.

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Bekaaah90@reddit

I moved to a four day week and I absolutely love it, Fridays are now my get shit done day like shopping, appointments etc and I can actually enjoy the weekend

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RedPlasticDog@reddit

My partner negotiated longer days and Friday off. The reality is the work could all be done in about three regular days anyway so it’s just a day off on Friday.

I’m self employed and generally try and avoid working on Fridays

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

I do this already. My work adopted a 4 day work week nearly two years ago and it's been absolutely fantastic.

Instead of 8x5 we now do 9x4 and have every Friday off.

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VermilionXXX@reddit

And you work.... where...?

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

I’m not at liberty to disclose that information.

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Mr-Incy@reddit

I have worked 4 on 4 off, 12 hours shifts, for 17 years.

I was working days and nights on rotation, at one time it was 2 days followed by 2 nights each block of 4, and now I am working permanent 4 on 4 off nights.
Permanent nights is perfect for my natural body clock.

I know lots of people say it isn't the best shift pattern for your body, but you are only rostered to work 6 months of the year, then take your holiday entitlement off that, which is a minimum of 20 days a year for this pattern, and you are only working approximately 5 months of the year.

Also with this pattern, when you book 4 days holiday you get 12 days off, book two blocks of 4 off in a row, 8 days holiday, and you get 20 days off.

Getting 4 days off every week is ideal for getting things done as well as having plenty of time to rest and enjoy any hobbies you may have.

It also allows time to put in some overtime shifts if you want some extra money.

The pay is typically better than Monday to Friday office hours as most place working 4 on 4 off have a shift bonus built into the pay to compensate working over the typical average hours per week and having to work nights and weekends.

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FoxGranite@reddit

I used to have a job where I did this, I worked 35 hours in 3 days and had Thursday and Friday off.

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AntiDynamo@reddit

No, I already work 9-6, and thats already a bit too much. On the rare occasion I have to do 9-7 I’m just completely dead after. I want to keep my hours and have an extra day off

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Chris-TT@reddit

My wife who's a vet works 9-7pm Mon-Thu she insists on these hours at every practice she works at. it works great for her, and we get a three day weekend. (I work from home, so can choose my hours)

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Stu2307@reddit

I work 4 on 4 off and this is the best shift pattern in my opinion. Although it's 12 hour shifts, I'd much rather work longer hours with more days off. This saves me money as I commute less and I can also get 12 days off in a row by using only 4 days annual leave. I honestly would hate doing Monday to Friday again as 2 days off is not enough.

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you_aint_seen_me-@reddit

Yes but seeing as I still find myself working a ten hour day, I'm hesitant to even think the company I work for would truly support a reduced week.

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Element77@reddit

Absolutely.

I Hated my last job, it was unbelievably stressful, management was utter shite, and most people were miserable there. I worked nearly 5 years there though for 3 reasons...

It was 2 miles from my house so I could walk to work and back, great exercise and stress reliever.
Flexible hours; They had core hours (10-3pm Mon-Thurs & 10-12 Fri) you had to be online for but could work anytime you wanted in the week as long as hours were done.
Half day Fridays. This was the best one by far. Finishing midday on Friday was amazing. Best job perk I've had in 15 years of working.

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itsapotatosalad@reddit

Give done compressed hours, the longer days get a bit much after a while. I just fit in extra time here and there and take a flexi day every other week.

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Visible_Pipe4716@reddit

Going to have to do this not through choice when our kid goes to nursery next year. Not looking forward to it.

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lucealice@reddit

I work a 4-day week - 8 hour days (excluding lunch) Monday to Friday (32 hours total). It's genuinely been life changing.

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jonathing@reddit

I do work a 4 day week and have my extra day off on Wednesday so that I have two mini weeks instead of one longer one.

The long days are tiring sometimes but the way our patient lists are structured it means I get a nice spread of work throughout the day

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Drammeister@reddit

I worked day shifts at Thorntons Chocolate factory.. 10am to 8pm Monday to Thursday instead of 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Got a shift bonus too.

I much preferred it!

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Sunshinetrooper87@reddit

No. Its hard enough to get home, cook and spend time with my kids and wife, let alone squeeze in necessary chores.

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UniquePotato@reddit

Used to work 4x10 days and have mondays off. Loved it.

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PresidentGarvey@reddit

I do shifts of 12 hours, usually two on for two off, three on for three off or once a month four on for four off. It genuinely makes a huge difference. Once I'm at work my mindset is that I would have been here for 8 hours anyway, so really what difference does another 4 make? And getting 3 or 4 days off in a row always feels great and feels like a far longer stretch of time than a standard weekend.

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Intrepid_Bearz@reddit

I did that when I worked for Ministry of Agriculture about 30years ago. Had a flexitime system, so I’d go in early and have a short lunch break Monday-Thursday and have a three day weekend. Didn’t matter to them, as I was doing paperwork (processing dead cattle passports…mindnumbingly boring work) and not dealing with anyone face to face, so when I did it really didn’t matter.

[-]

jalopity@reddit

Yeah, how many hours are we talking?

845-6 and then we get sat sun and mon off?

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thatscotbird@reddit

I cut down to four days a week - Tuesday - Friday, when I returned back from maternity leave and I have such a good work/life balance. I rarely ever feel burnt out anymore - I’m more productive at work & my house is cleaner and my life is generally more organised.

At the weekend I have time to go out / spend with family, have a day to chill out and then on Monday I catch go with housework for the week and attend any appointments I need to.

One day makes such a difference

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sunheadeddeity@reddit

I did it for a while but 8-6 was an awful drag and put a lot of responsibility for the kids on my wife, which wasnt fair. Eventually went to 4 days per week 9-5, every Friday off. That was great. Loved it.

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KoorbB@reddit

I already do this and have for a few years now. As you say, a major benefit is feeling like I actually switch off from work and I don’t get the blues before the next working week starts. The longer 4 working days are a slog but it’s worth it for the longer weekend. I don’t feel like I miss much at all regarding work, as I take the Friday off where generally it’s a quieter day anyway.

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Euphoric_Magazine856@reddit

I WFH 3 days a week which is sort of like having a 5 day weekend.

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flusteredchic@reddit

My 3 day week WFH starts TODAY! 🎉 I'm so happy I could cry 🙌

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flusteredchic@reddit

If you work anywhere with a HR you can generally put in a flexi-request so long as your manager is on board. Compressed hours is pretty typical where I work

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ExplorerLow289@reddit

I prefer having a midweek day off, breaks things up nicely. Let's you get housework, shopping etc done without it feeling like you're wasting your weekend

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gazmbuku@reddit

I used to do longer hours in winter and shorter in summer. Due to fire and rehire and terms changed it went. Summers were brilliant and I was actually productive in work 4 or 3 days). The winter was brutal sometimes though but when summer arrived it was worth it.

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vegan_voorhees@reddit

I did this in an old job years ago: 10-8 four days a week and Fridays off.

It was great but they scrapped it eventually.

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Unusual_Sherbert2671@reddit

I went from 8hr x 5 days to 10hr x 5 days (moved abroad for more money)

When I come back to the UK I would like to either do 10hr x 4 days at same pay or 8hr x 4 days same pay (hard to get this job)

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Bionix_52@reddit

My work days are 12 hours. My commute is 90 minutes each way plus an extra 30 minutes allowance for traffic in the morning.

If my work day was any longer I’d be leaving for work before I got home.

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NoVermicelli3192@reddit

I do this. 8-5 Mon-Thu. It only works due to WFH

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Forsaken_Bee3717@reddit

I wouldn’t like it to be that rigid a schedule. I basically work flexi time now- just do 35 hours a week, don’t miss important meetings, and come in-person when needed. On Friday I did 2 hours of work because I was sorting out life admin stuff, and just make the time up another day. If all else fails, take leave to balance it out.

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analyticated@reddit

I do a 9 day fortnight, work 45 mins longer everyday and get every other Monday off. It's great.

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dragonetta123@reddit

I work compressed hours. I work 9 days across 2 weeks. I appreciate that day off. I'm lucky I can be completely flexible with it, so it can be anywhere day.

Compressed hours is a very common flexible working arrangement.

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thinkaboutthegame@reddit

No, I've got young kids and it wouldn't work at all.

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benjymous@reddit

I already do this, sorta

8 hours Mon-Thur, and 5.5 hours on Friday.

I work 7 am to 4pm with an hour lunchbreak, so Fridays I work 7-12.30 and effectively feel like it's a half day (even though it's more like a three quarter day)

And yes, those Friday afternoons give me more time to kick off an unwind, or get all those chores done around the house and get an actual weekend off, etc/

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soulsteela@reddit

I have been working 3 days a week for a few years now, it’s the sweet spot, actually being able to live rather than hoping I make it to retirement is so much better than fucking 6 days a week.

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Nyx_Necrodragon101@reddit

Depends how much longer. I already spend more time at work than I do with my family and that's taking a toll on me.

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Turbulent-Pilot-1436@reddit

I do 4 ,12 hour shifts and get 4 days off a week. I have to to do 2 nights shifts though so not great there but I doubt I could go back to 5 in 2 off again.

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Travellingjake@reddit

I did a 9 day fortnight for quite a while - that was amazing - an extra 45 mins a day for every 2nd Friday off.

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JedsBike@reddit

Self employed - yes. I largely work if I want, where I want when I want.

I probably work harder than a day job though, but it doesn’t feel like work all that much.

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kachuru@reddit

I'd be okay with an 8 day week, working 5 days with a 3 day weekend.

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EmbalmedCoconut@reddit

Four nine hour days is still full-time. They're not even long days when you consider coppers and paramedics tend to do like 12 hour shifts. There were companies trialling 4-on 3-off for a while for study on morale and productivity. Not entirely sure what became of it.

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Pegasus2022@reddit

I would rather work longer days and get Friday off as it’s half day for us

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