Who else feels like full time work isn’t for them?

Posted by Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 311 comments

Has anyone, while young, fit and without an excuse (like childcare etc) worked part time out of choice? I am a young person, mid 20s, doing well financially and career wise, but I just feel like, is this all there is to life? Me and my partner work 40 hour weeks just to afford a fraction of what my grandparents did on a single salary. We’ll never expect to raise children in London. We’re both saddled in ridiculous debt. I can’t be arsed anymore. Every week is just work work work, a short break, and back to it. There must be a better way of living life! I’m planning to take a salary cut in order to give myself a 4 day week. My parents think I’m insane, but I think I’ll GO insane if I have to work 5 days a week for the rest of my life. I’m neurodivergent by the way if that gives you any context. Please be kind (ish)

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katie-kaboom@reddit

Full-time work isn't for any of us. This capitalist hellscape which forces us into a regimented, constrained world is deeply unnatural. Wring whatever joy you can get out of it, even (especially) if that means trading money for time.

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throwthrowthrow529@reddit

Yeah, instead you could live in a hut in a field and have to hunt your own food, try and find clean water, try not to get attacked, hope you don’t get illness or infection etc. etc. Shut up with your “capitalist hellscape” man.

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offgridstories@reddit

Capitalism is not the only system in which humans can thrive. It has led to the immiseration of billions of people. People from indigenous and first nations lived prosperously in gift economies and in harmony with nature without over extraction for hundreds of years before capitalism came along.If you think capitalism works, it's because you are not under the greatest weight of the boot. Read some Jason Hickel and free your mind, my friend!

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throwthrowthrow529@reddit

If your example is indigenous people 100s of years ago my point is proven. There is no modern society where capitalism doesn’t work.

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offgridstories@reddit

I understand why that seems like a logical point. Because in 'developed' counties we have all these luxuries that make it seem like we're living in a healthy, functional system. But modern society is predicated on exploitation. We only have a smartphone and a laptop and fast fashion and coffee because people much, much poorer than us were made slaves centuries ago. And now the descendants of those people are forced to abor in horrendous, inhumane conditions to manufacture and deliver that stuff to us. And the joke is we don't even need that stuff. We need food, water, medicine and shelter, all of which we can provide without capital and exploitation and globalisation. But because capitalism demands wealth accumulation at the top, we are all forced to labour in mostly unfulfilling work to afford the basics and the Luxuries that enrich a teeny tiny portion of the population while ruining the planet and impoverishing half the global population. That's not a system that works. That's not our only option. But the people at the top 100% need us to believe that it is.

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OkConsideration5272@reddit

More than two options are possible.

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throwthrowthrow529@reddit

You can’t show me one example where anything but capitalism works.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

This is what I think, I can’t believe we all abide by it

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hazmog@reddit

So, set up a business.

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throwthrowthrow529@reddit

Your more than welcome to go a live off grid, hunt your own food, do whatever you want every day. You won’t though… I also looked back through your post history. You need therapy, you are constantly worrying about health issues etc.

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ContextRules@reddit

Its not necessarily abiding by it. There isnt exactly a slew of better alternatives hiding around the bend. While I would love a world where we didnt have to work as we do, that's just not the world we actually live it. Im all for change, but in the meantime I have to work. Luckily I found a career I do enjoy and am not personally bothered by work. But, I remember when I was. I felt like you did. Ironically, in my 20s.

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meeperland_yy@reddit

Can I ask how you got over it and became unbothered? Like OP, I am in my 20s and also struggling…

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Lower-Version-3579@reddit

You just work through it and eventually you’ll realize that once you have other loved ones depending on you, it’s not that hard to work hard to provide for them and their comfort, safety and security. Sadly, it’s part of maturing and growing up in our society and economic system. Another good strategy is to take yourself out of your own head/life by learning about how hard other people around you/around the world have to work for far, far less than you get. Ultimately, it’s about learning to be greatful for the things you have rather than feeling like the world is uniquely hard on you or owes you anything. It’s down to gratitude and resilience in a way.

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ContextRules@reddit

I just accepted that it's the world we live in. I sort of realised that I could be annoyed the world isnt ideal or what I want or do what I could to have a life that came close to what I wanted. I had a moment where it just sort of fell into place. I was tired of being angry about it and I couldnt change how things worked. Being angry that I was in a flatshare instead of my own flat wasnt getting me my own flat. I figured a plan where I could have a decent life with balance. I sorted my qualifications, took on some debt, and cracked on. It wasn't smooth and easy, but in the end it was worth it because I got to a place where I have a job I like and it pays well enough that I can have the life I can be happy with. Even the debt was worth it and its not so much that its overwhelming. I make enough so I dont have to take a second job on or work too much. Its more about life to me than £. It wasn't easy to accept, but at least im not bothered all the time and I just really didn't like whinging all the time and getting back to the same shit where nothing changed. It was just a matter for me of making choices for myself that worked for me. I doubt that helps but that's just what happened with me. I did get lucky and found a quite good career guidance counsellor who helped me sort what I really wanted to do and what qualifications I needed to get there.

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Cub3h@reddit

That's because all alternatives tried so far are worse. Go back far enough and we all basically worked the fields from dusk until dawn, otherwise we'd die from hunger. Every so often another marauding tribe would come by and slaughter your family and friends. Feudalism wasn't any fun, neither was working in the factories during the industrial revolution. Even less fun at that time was being part of the countries without factories as they were basically all taken over and exploited. Communism? Great fun, work even more hours and get the bare basics covered if you were lucky. A car? Yeah wait 10 years for that. Food? Go tell your wife to queue up for whatever tasteless rations you're assigned.

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Pristine-Net-1977@reddit

Just so you're aware, this is factually untrue and is, by large account, a modern lie. People in the Middle Ages worked basically as much as we did, if not less. And the way they worked was allot more flexible. This is mostly due to the fact that there just wasn't really a lot you could do with money as a poor person. If you have enough money to buy all your food for the month and your house (that you can't own) isn't in need of repair, why would you work? The awnser is you didn't. A really interesting or depressing part of history is the move from people doing mostly field work to people working in factories. It will shock you how bad it got and how quickly everyone accepted the natural order of things.

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katie-kaboom@reddit

There are a host of possibilities between Stalinism and late-stage hypercapitalism. (Also, medieval peasants worked fewer hours than us in an average year.)

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NibblyPig@reddit

I think you can do the same as the peasants if you switch office work for 8+ hours of gruelling manual labour and 6 day weeks for most of the year. Then have a bit of time off to relax at christmas and such.

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twentyfeettall@reddit

Until the Puritans ban Christmas, of course, for being too rowdy.

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specofdust@reddit

Indeed, and guess how many 50" TVs and holidays abroad they had? You can still effectively live a subsistence life if you really desire it, the vast majority of people would much rather avoid the back breaking labour and have modern functioning healthcare.

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0K_-_-@reddit

How true is your statement about working the fields dusk til dawn? I thought crop farming had lots of downtime.

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jflb96@reddit

Maybe we could try socialism that isn't under siege?

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siziyman@reddit

Which one? I am Russian. People in USSR didn't have it any better, they had it worse by most definitions. You can have free healthcare and free education in capitalism (see the majority of Western Europe to different extents), it's far better than anything socialism has ever produced.

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Cub3h@reddit

In practice it looks pretty much the same as the communism one. Social democracy is probably the closest thing we've figure out to being "fair", but that's still a form of capitalism.

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jflb96@reddit

Does it? Where are you looking at?

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octropos@reddit

It's survival.

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Few-Proposal-4681@reddit

There’s nothing unnatural about it. Just look at the worker ant. We basically work less than any point in human history, and even compared the animal kingdom we have more time and energy to spend on non-survival activities.

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amotherofcats@reddit

It depends what you do, it is for some of us.If you enjoy your job and have fun at work with your colleagues and customers full time is fine, even overtime is fine. I'm loving my retirement but I still sometimes miss going to work at night.

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planetf1a@reddit

I’m arguably getting close to that age - I’m older than when my dad retired, but still enjoying work 5 days a week, and sometimes long hours. I think my ideal would probably be 4 days a week - no less. and the challenge with that in general is competition. there’s pressure we may put on ourselves to do well…

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Thaladan@reddit

When and where exactly was full-time work not the norm? And when and where was the material standard of living better than the capitalist Western world in the 21st Century? Are we comparing it to actual, real, human history? Or to an infantile, naive, utopian fantasy?

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caniuserealname@reddit

A surprising number of people learn that medieval serfs only worked the farm for x number of months per year and assume that meant that they had the rest of the year to chill out and do whatever, rather that engaging in near constant labour for their lord, whether it's infrastructure projects like roads, working for the church, or just spending a massive chunk of your time labouring out of necessity because the vast majority of local services we rely on to keep stuff running were just stuff you had to do manually, like fetching water, cutting logs for firewood, repairing your home and clothes etc. Brutal, near constant work, and a surprising amount of it either completely unpaid (you were expected to provide labour to the church for free), or paid a pittance because your lord already lets you work his land, how dare you expect anything more.

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eerst@reddit

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread..." No one owes you an existence. Even the ancients knew this.

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OkDifficulty3834@reddit

100% agree, easy times have made people soft. We have life good.

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primary_goosey@reddit

Myself and partner do 4 day weeks and it is fantastic. We both have Wednesday off to break up the week. I compress my hours, so do 4.5 days in 4 which can make the days feel long, but it's all worth it on Tuesday evening. That said, we only made the jump in our late 30s when finances and work situation felt more stable. Whatever you decide, best of luck!

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Cowcat0@reddit

I’m going to be condensing my hours at the end of the year from 5 days full time to 4 days (probably will drop some hours too) I’ve had in my mind for either Monday or Friday to be my non working day but Wednesday actually sounds like a really nice way to break the week up.

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pickleinthejar939@reddit

I took a Wednesday off when I came back from maternity and had the accrued annual leave to use up. Whilst it does break up the week: it is very much a working day; so lots happens in your absence and you can come into a scrum on Thursday. In my experience a Friday was generally less productive in the work place and therefore fewer things accrued while I wasn’t there. The other factor for me was switching off- mid week I really struggled, I found that if it was a Friday off then come Thursday night I could genuinely, mentally down tools for three days. Very much horses for courses though - specific to individuals, individual work places and roles. My advice would be; if the Wednesday isn’t giving you an actually break, don’t be afraid to try a Friday.

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Cowcat0@reddit

Another good perspective and gives me more to think about! Friday in my workplace actually does tend to be quieter (and when a lot of the managers are off too) so you could be on to something there as I feel like perhaps a Thursday would be quite a bit to come back into. I’d be 50% office and home too if I were to work 4 days so if I could have Wednesday and Thursday WFH, Friday would be a good one to have off.

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primary_goosey@reddit

Yes, good point - things definitely keep moving whilst you're off on Wednesday so it can feel like there's a bit of a backlog to clear on Thursday mornings.

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Immediate_Machine_92@reddit

Do you end up doing much on the Wednesday? Just curious as I imagine for a lot of people the default would be to take the Monday or Friday off for a 3-day weekend. I actually quite like the sound of the way you do it, so you're never working more than 2 consecutive days.

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primary_goosey@reddit

Wednesday is a bit of a rest and recharge day for us. Maybe do something low-key like got for a walk and a coffee, or head to the cinema whilst it's quiet and cheap. I would definitely agree that the main advantage is never being far from a day off. I can see the draw of having 3 day weekends for longer trips away also.

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audigex@reddit

Not the parent commenter but I'd take Wednesday as an "a little admin but mostly decompress/chill day" Everyone else is at work and everything's open, so it's a perfect day to have no commitments and maybe make a few phone calls and renew the insurance etc, get a dishwasher delivered etc Leaving you the full weekend to be busy when friends/family are off Plus the fact that I'd basically never feel the need to take a day off just to chill, so you'd have plenty of holidays available to take 3-day weekends whenever you need to

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eaunoway@reddit

I can't recommend taking Wednesdays off enough. It absolutely changes your life, for the better.

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rainbow84uk@reddit

Wednesdays off worked best for me too. It's like having a mini weekend in the middle of the week. I tried Fridays first, but in my job it meant missing important meetings, as well as the most chill in-office day and Friday night drinks with teammates I actually liked hanging out with. I also tried Mondays but again, missed a lot of key meetings, plus it turned out that loads of cultural stuff and small businesses in my city also closed on Mondays, so I couldn't do as much in my free time. Just typing this all out is making me miss my 4-day weeks SO much. I'd take the pay cut to do it again in a heartbeat, but sadly it's not an option where I work now.

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Bourach1976@reddit

I take Wednesday's off as compressed hours too and I think it's fab. I do get a lot done, I fit medical appointments in and I'm involved with a local history society. It's just lovely to know when you log on that you're never further away from tomorrow being your next day off.

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MattB256@reddit

I did this with Wednesdays at the end of last year when I had 6 spare days of annual leave. Only ever worked 2 days in a row and the week flew by. I was really productive in work Mon & Tue which made me feel good, then I got loads of things done on Wednesdays (bulk cooking, spring cleaning etc) so didn’t have to do it during the week, which gave me even more time back. Then Thursday and Friday everyone is in a good mood and looking forward to the weekend anyway so that wasn’t even that bad! God I miss it Really tempted to go down to 4 days permanently myself but I doubt my current company would let me.

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Carafaggio@reddit

my ex and I used to both take Wednesday's off too and I really liked it. It meant we had a day in the week to do fun things when places are less busy

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Jj8rh@reddit

I do the same, Wednesday off! I normally go to the gym, bakery and visit my mum

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Thank you! This makes me feel a lot better Speaking to my parents, they made me feel like being young and wanting to reduce my days is insanity, and that basically no one works part time apart from new mothers and disabled people

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LCFCJIM@reddit

Take yourself out of normal work and go abroad. Be a rep or work somewhere unusual. You might still be doing 5 days a week but you can have some life experience and you never know what you'll find. I coached kids football for first choice holidays when I was 18-22 and it was some of the best years of my life.

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sp2861@reddit

Literally everyone thinks this.

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im_not_funny12@reddit

My parents both died before they could enjoy their retirement. I do not want to work my life away waiting for the time I get to spend with my husband. I'm going part time next year. I want to spend my life with the people I love.

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Jinxrocket@reddit

💯 % feel the same way. Life is for living not existing.

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Smashmundo@reddit

Well done.

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Sandy_Bananas@reddit

Yup. There are different ways.

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Ok_Deer_2490@reddit

I was diagnosed neurodivergent a couple of years ago after suffering burnout for a couple of years in a row. I went down to 4 days a week in 2024 and it was the best thing I ever did. My salary is still good and I use my Friday off to do something fun and soul fulfilling to decompress before the weekend actually starts. Genuinely the best thing I ever did and my parents saw such a difference in me that they’re just as protective of my Friday as I am!

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LieutBromhead@reddit

How did you swing the 4 days a week with work?

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ReputationKind4628@reddit

Some places let you do compressed hours - 4x9 hr days rather than 5x 7.5

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j21w91@reddit

What sort of things are you doing with your Fridays?

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Love that for you!!

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Up_and_ATEM@reddit

I feel the same. I work 5 out of 7 days and my two days off are rarely together. Sometimes that is good as it splits the week up but other times it’s really tough as one day off never feels enough and then have to work a few days before my next. We have kids and have ok life. Could do with a bigger house but the idea of taking a longer mortgage is depressing when I’m already in my 40s.

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offgridstories@reddit

I had this same epiphany when I was 24. 10 years later, I live mortgage fee, off-grid, work for myself a couple of days a week and go sailing on my liveaboard sailboat for a couple of months a year. There is more to life. Humans are not meant to live this way. Anyone who tells you that you should or you need to is likely projecting their own small mindedness and cowardice onto your life. Don't let them.

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RoseandPip@reddit

I think about this all the time, the weekend never seems enough time to enjoy life.

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Smashmundo@reddit

It’s not. It was shit when I worked Monday to Friday. Now I work on a shift and get 7 days off every 14 days and it’s changed my life. I work 12 hour days, but it’s such a small price to pay for having more days off.

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ReputationKind4628@reddit

I used to work 3x13 hour shifts then have 4 days off. Meant nothing got done on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but I wasn't at home making things untidy or cooking either. And a 4-day weekend more than made up for it!

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Thewellreadpanda@reddit

When you think about it Saturday is recovery day and Sunday is preparation day, I much preferred working 12 hour shifts on a 4/4 pattern, sure they were long on the day but then you had two full middle days of feeling good and not having to worry about work the next day, it was great.

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The_Olive_Agenda@reddit

I work 2.5 days a week and then freelance on top. My job is a 5 min walk from my house. The feeelance work I do pays very very well so I live a life with a quite lovely balance! I pay rent, eat well, and have a lot of free time

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Notagelding@reddit

I work part time and a 4 day week. At 44, I'm already financially secure, hence why I can do this. I've been in my current role for nearly two years but was previously working part time for another employer. Being able to work this way is a godsend! I don't have any dependents and live within my means.

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FarAd8547@reddit

I’m 26. I feel this 24/7 lol

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Catchmekate_@reddit

I live in France and work 4 days a week because there's no school on Wednesdays until the kids hit secondary school. I'm not sure I'll ever go up to full time. The work life balance is fantastic. Of course, they didn't reduce my workload by 20% really so I do have less time to fart around but overall it's definitely worth it.

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Dry-Clock-8934@reddit

If you’ve no money working full time how would reducing your income help ?

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Prestigious-Slide-73@reddit

I did not need this thread today.

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TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit

Just like those before you, you have to go through it. Your grandparents may have made more money but that's justified. The quality of life they had was far worse with regards education, travel, human rights, health problems, entertainment etc but you can't see it. You're literally living the best life that any human on earth has ever experienced. But like you at your age, I thought exactly the same. We only care about the things we missed out on and not what was sacrificed. As you get older you'll realise slowly and you'll start to do things for yourself rather than constantly looking in the mirror at how others had it. This world is exactly what you make of it. The amount of effort you put in to making sure you and your family have what they need is doable. Sometimes we have to sacrifice time and effort, but we can also find a way out too. However it's almost impossible to see this when you're younger. And I'm not a boomer, I'm late Gen X

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abadpenny@reddit

Life expectancy is falling. Misogyny is rising. Job vacancies are falling. Wages have been stagnant for a while. Currently, the granular data is not showing this being the best life any human has experienced. I'm a millenial and I am really worried for Gen Z...

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jfefleming@reddit

I did 80% in my last job by choice. It was higher pressure than I liked, so the extra day off helped balance that. I didn't need the money.

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abadpenny@reddit

Full-time work week was designed around nuclear families, where one partner (usually woman) would stay at home. Now single people have to squeeze all that time of cooking, life admin, cleaning, socialising, resting around it. Parent couples often have to both work, forcing them to use childcare options and both look after domestic work. It's ridiculous.

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mindfulparrot@reddit

I’m badly paid and I work 4 days a week. My husband doesn’t earn much either. We don’t have a mortgage or kids, probably won’t have either. Would never go back to 5 days a week even if my salary was doubled!

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greenfence12@reddit

One of my parents died in their 60s, it's made me rethink things, I don't want to work full time and wait until I'm 68 (or older) to retire and do things I want. Aiming to pay down my mortgage as quickly as I can, forget about up sizing/buying a nicer house and go down to 4 days to have more time to travel, do things I want to do etc

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backdoorsmasher@reddit

This is a huge concern of mine too. Over the last year or so I've come to realise that it would actually be impossible for me to do my current job and have good health because of how completely engulfing and demanding of my time it is. I don't normally play games that I can't win. So why would I continue to do this?

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Sharpus89@reddit

My dad had a stroke a few months before Covid. My mum retired to look after him, then lockdown happened, then she got cancer, then died end of 2023. Never got to enjoy a moment of not working 40 hours every week since 19. Makes you think about how much work dominates our lives and that we should really do our best to minimise that so we can enjoy life while we have it.

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Norman_debris@reddit

>Aiming to pay down my mortgage as quickly as I can, Isn't that precisely why most people work full time?

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Key-Environment-4910@reddit

I’m just buying a new house with bigger mortgage but will overpay, and hopefully sell in 10 years time for more profit then retire

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Norman_debris@reddit

That's some profit if you're planning to retire off it!

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Key-Environment-4910@reddit

Well, it’ll pay my mortgage will be paid off put it that way

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greenfence12@reddit

Some might borrow the maximum amount they can over the longest period possible so they can have nice holidays, car finance, meals out etc, I'm trying to overpay each year and then save up to pay off extra when the fixed period ends, whilst avoiding things like car finance, credit card debt etc, therefore allowing me to go part time earlier in life.

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audigex@reddit

I borrow over the longest period possible because my interest rate is lower than the return I can get on savings accounts and investments No point putting my savings in to pay off a 1.9% mortgage when I'm getting 6% on my savings and ~10% on my investments

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whereismyfix@reddit

Yeah, overpaying the mortgage is rarely sound financial advice. The goal is figuring out when you want to retire and aligning your mortgage repayments and investment strategy with that. Even then, having a bit of mortgage left when you retire is not a problem, as it means you’ve got more capital to start and can decide what you want to do with, including repaying the outstanding balance in full. Paying off your mortgage early means you’re delaying investing/saving and that’s a massive opportunity cost. I think there is a bit of bias from people who saw their parents/grandparents pay off their mortgages early and assumed that’s what gave them the comfort of retiring early, but did not take into account the super-generous DB pensions they were due by the time they were in their late 50s.

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birchblonde@reddit

You might want to review this strategy, it’s generally considered unwise to use excess funds to repay your mortgage as it tends to have a lower interest rate than you could potentially gain from doing something else with your cash

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Tinseltopia@reddit

At the moment, a guaranteed 4.5% per year on everything I overpay is more comfortable than a potential higher gain on stocks, at the moment, they seem very over-valued and there could be a correction coming. Guaranteed 4.5% is what I'm going with for 2026

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audigex@reddit

Why not a guaranteed 6-7%, though? https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts/

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greenfence12@reddit

I think the peace of mind that comes from being mortgage free outweighs the potential greater returns from stocks and shares investments - I can do that once I'm mortgage free

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audigex@reddit

It's not just stocks and shares, to be fair - you can beat current mortgage rates with saving accounts I do get why some people are averse to investing: mentally some people just don't want to have any risk on their money... but while savings accounts have fairly decent interest rates you can probably beat your mortgage right now with zero risk [Max out these 5.75-7% "regular saver" accounts](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts/) and that's £1950/mo you can put away into accounts with way better interest than a typical ~4% mortgage (£1700/mo of that being at >6%) And even if you have >£24k/year that you could overpay with (which, I'd venture, isn't the case for many people) then you can put another [£20k into a cash ISA at 4.4%](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/) or [4-6% into other savings accounts](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest/)

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D1C_Whizz@reddit

This is the way.

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omgu8mynewt@reddit

Lol spoken like someone without a mortgage at the current rates for the last two years.

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1968Bladerunner@reddit

My mum passed at 59 and, like you say, it was a major factor in my decision to semi-retire at 50 for a quieter, strsss-free life. I'd had a huge push, post-divorce, to overpay & pay off my mortgage plus plentiful marital debts, then went on a saving spree which helped my cause too. It's not exactly FIRE, but only working 5-10 hours a week is a whole lot more manageable than the 40 I was doing before.

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Equivalent_Word3952@reddit

My mum didn’t even collect one retirement payment as she died before getting there. Life is too short, book those holidays, spend time with people you care about and live!

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0K_-_-@reddit

There was a study that showed 8 hours purposeful employment **a week** as optimal for mental health. ^source: ^https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619303284?via%3Dihub

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LadyAilla@reddit

It's worth noting, whilst this is a sound strategy, depending on lender etc. you can only pay an extra 10% as most mortgages are 35 years regardless of income, they don't want you to pay off too early. Me an my husband looked into dumping a cash payment and it actually worked out worse for us.

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audigex@reddit

That's just not true at all For one thing, the average term for first time buyers is 30 years (31 technically, I believe) and the average overall is lower than that But you aren't locked in for 35 years - you're generally on a 2, 3, or 5 year fixed term. After that fixed term you can pay off any amount of the mortgage you like with no penalty, unless you fix for another fixed term... but you'd just pay it off in between the fixed terms Pay off 10% a year while in the fixed term, save any extra and throw it into the mortgage after the fixed term, re-fix and repeat

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greenfence12@reddit

It's 10% a year and you can pay it off in full outside of the fixed periods though

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Specific-Curve3277@reddit

Both my parents died right after hitting the retirement age. They never got to enjoy life and they had been working from the age of 13/14 years old as they were born in the 50s so time was different. I am now 32 and I feel the same. I have a 5.5 year old daughter and I want to be able to spend as much time with her that I can but I can’t as it’s not financially feasible. I truly feel like society robbed us of a proper life.

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BBCPARLlAMENT@reddit

I'm not fit or without excuse per se, but did make the decision to work 4 days a week a couple years ago (early-mid 20s) after multiple bereavements and realising how much full time work was impacting my stress levels and making chronic illnesses worse. In terms of lost earnings it was a bloody expensive decision, but I would never go back. My every day stress is so much lower, I am more productive in my 4 days on and I now actually end the weekend feeling back on an even keel. 10000/10 would do over and over again.

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Dildo_of_Vengeance@reddit

Absolutely. I'm 34, no kids, no physical disability (likely ND though) and going part-time has made a world of difference for my general happiness, as has taking a role that's mostly WFH and not in an office. I also do freelance work though, so it's not actually about "less work" for me - it's more about independence and being able to choose my own hours half the time. I hated the corporate 9 - 5 so much.

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Sharpus89@reddit

I’m 36, work part-time. Have had a few of full-time jobs in the past but couldn’t stick them out for longer than 2 years each, the lack of free time just made me depressed. Thankfully, I’m lucky in that my wife earns a decent enough wage that I can stay part-time. I just make it up by doing the majority of housework. And it’s worked out well as we’ve just adopted a baby girl, so I’ll be a part-time stay-at-home-dad.

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1MrNobody1@reddit

Almost everyone, it's just that for most there isn't a suitable alternative.

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Tomgar@reddit

I guess I'll be the dissenting voice and say that, after experiencing the utter misery of long-term unemployment, the structure, routine and self-worth I get from a full time job is worth any other annoyances I get from it.

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Specific_Pomelo_8281@reddit

I use to work 4 days a week but couldn’t live on it and saving for a house was out of the question. Plus getting a mortgage. I’m now 5 days a week and I hate it. I have Wednesday and Sunday off. And I feel like I don’t really get to “rest” because my days off are so far apart.

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OkConsideration5272@reddit

Ouch, what a brutal pattern. :(

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Icy_Gap_9067@reddit

I've never worked full time. I work in a school but stay late 4 days a week so do around 34 hours, not including breaks. Love having time to do things like camping, daytrips out and hobbies. Things might have to change as my job is quite energy draining (SEN) so I won't be able to do it forever and maybe we will move away from the south one day, but at the moment, it works well. I've always thought I'd rather have more time now to do things as I worry if my mobility or eyesight go when I'm older then I'll have lost most of my interests.

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spiritedawayf0x@reddit

Yes all through my 20s I worked part time four days a week just because I wanted 3 days off. No one I worked with could ever understand why I did it, everyone assumed I must have kids, was studying or some other commitments but I honestly think working four days kept me sane. Working a conventional job 9-5 isn’t for everyone and I can admit it definitely isn’t for me.

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sal101010@reddit

I had a lot of inheritances from quite young so I could afford to only work part time. However, I also did it because it was necessary for health reasons, but it was definitely the right decision. So yes, if you can wrest some freedom back from The Machine, do it!

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conor2903@reddit

I work 10 hour days plus an hour commuting each way for 4 days a week. It’s much better, every week is a 3 day weekend! If I’m already at work I may as well do an extra 2 hours per day and have a whole other day to enjoy.

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lusciousmix@reddit

I went through a bit of this realisation in my late 20s. It feels like you have 40+ years ahead of you of 9-5, 5 days a week (if you’re lucky enough to be able to retire at all) Some solutions and reframings: - try to find work you enjoy at least a bit. I’m not saying you have to love work so much you prefer it to free time. But whether its because you have some nice collages or you get to be creative and problem solve, or you’re working for something you believe it - if you can try to drop to 4 days a week. Then almost half the week is time off. Consider asking for compressed hours so you still work your full hours but a couple of longer days. So you don’t have to take a pay cut. I didn’t even consider this until I had a child but now a few childless people in my team do it too. - make choices in your life that help you minimise working. Eg consider if you really need to upsize to a bigger house and big mortgage when you could be mortgage free sooner. - always have something to look forward to eg a holiday or nice day out with friends booked. Even nice plans at the weekend (ideally not always involving drinking but I know that was the case for me in my 20s) - take all your annual leave. It’s insane to me some people in my team don’t take all their leave, why are thwy working for free?! - do whatever you can to save for retirement. Put as much in your pension as you can afford without sacrificing your quality of life now.

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tubbytucker@reddit

I do a four day week, it's great.

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LimitTricky1452@reddit

Move out of London. Start living

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Key-Environment-4910@reddit

Move out of London to a northern city or town and live happily ever after I’m 50 single parent work full time and also do a side job, you have to get on with it unless you are rich unfortunately

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Cattlemutilation141@reddit

I know people who have, and in the past, I have a dropped around day for a few weeks Sometimes, it's good to recharge. What I find is that if things are going well and productive out of work, then everything in work falls in place quite nicely and its not so much of an annoyance fighting the m6 each morning to work

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BadManPro@reddit

I didnt even know you could drop a day JUST for a few weeks.

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Cattlemutilation141@reddit

I would add that it is at your bosses discretion

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Thanks cattlemutilation141!

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SinsOfTheAether@reddit

Gen xer here. I was working shit jobs in my 20's and 30's as well, but insread of taking 20% off each week, I would take 20% off each year. Throw on a back pack, jump on a train, go youth hostel to youth hostel for a few months. I get the essence of what you are saying, but for me, one extra day per week wouldn't seem like much of a break.

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mcglash@reddit

If you have debt you are not 'doing well financially' Consider moving out of london.

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TwoValuable@reddit

If you work in London it'd be interesting to hear what your salary cut actually is, compared to say the minimum wage or national average wage. Most people would love to work less but either can't afford it or it's just not possible. A lot of people working in London cry poverty and then admit to making stupid money. (This isn't me being mean I just have a lot of London friends who say out of touch stuff all the time). I was always happier working less hours, the typical 9-5 is too much for me. I also don't mind doing the occasional weekend because that gives me time off in the week to actually do stuff. I'm going back to work 3 days a week after maternity leave (to coinside with child care) and the wage difference is quite steep. However when you factor out Tax, NI, Pension, and the cost of childcare actually it's not that much difference and I actually get to see my baby. My partner works 4 12 hour days then has.4 days off, and he loves it.

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Kewoowaa@reddit

I’m 43 and the other day I was thinking…I’ve been in FT employment for 25yrs now…and if I have to wait until state pension age…I’ve got the same again to go (another 25 bloody years). It didn’t make for a happy me that day that’s for sure.

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Ali_103@reddit

I’m 35. Started full time at 20. That’s 15 years of work and it feels sooooo long ago that I started. But that’s just shy of a 3rd of my work life.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Respectfully, fuck that shit

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Kewoowaa@reddit

My sentiments exactly. If you can afford to work less than FT then I say go for it!

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Cranstorm@reddit

I work shifts these days (weather forecaster), which has me on four days on, four days off (12 hour shifts). Took some getting used to but I love it now.

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Constant-Tax-8240@reddit

I work shifts, average 4 day week on about £100k a year, I think about doing a 2 day week on 50k all the fuckin time, but I'll wait until I'm a bit older I think.

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superkinks@reddit

I don’t think it really matters what other people think, if it works for you and your partner. Life is short and you should enjoy it, not just get through it. I actually work full time and don’t mind it because my job is incredibly low stress and I like the people I work with. The flip side of that is that the pay is rubbish and I’m probably only earning what I’d make in 2/3 days in my old job.

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underthe_raydar@reddit

I do part time because that's the role that was available when I got the job. Since then multiple opportunities to go full time have presented themselves but I haven't took it. I love working 4 days. Now I do have children so I will go down to 3 days but I will never go full time unless I absolutely have no choice.

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Particular-Dot150@reddit

You know I feel exactly same. Life is not just about making money and still being restless and depressed. The money earned like this is not worth at all. I have decided that first I have to be content with my life. It's ok if I will not eat levish all the time but once or twice in a month. It will be fine if I will wear one good dress rather than five but I will never give up my peace of mind otherwise the work tension and a robot life will make me sick before time.

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these_metal_hands@reddit

I'm in my early 30's, no kids, no caring responsibilities etc and I went down to a 4 day week a few years ago. Never looked back.

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Auntie_Cagul@reddit

I did when I was in my mid thirties. I left full time work and got a part time job instead (half day, five days a week). I had requested fewer hours at my full time job but they couldn't / wouldn't accommodate me. I am now self employed working very part time hours (I make cakes). My husband took early retirement two years ago. I couldn't cope with the mental stress of full time work. Since breaking my ankle in 2017 I would struggle physically with full time work now as well, even if it was office based.

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Salty_Nothing5466@reddit

Totally feel this! Husband and I 41m 35f are selling our 4 bed detached to buy an apartment in cash mortgage free so we can live / work more flexibly

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit

I feel the same, can confirm part time is great, it gives your brain a rest and means you can do more fun stuff that isn’t work, and you get used to having less income, it’s fine :) Two notes: student loan isn’t real debt, they don’t come knocking for it, so don’t stress about that And also be aware of going down to 4 days per week but ending up doing overtime as the job hasn’t actually reduced, so you’re doing the same work for less pay. Make sure to never log in on your day off and try to finish on time the rest of the week.

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banedlol@reddit

It's not even the hours it's just the balance. I used to work ~40hr work weeks doing 4 x 12hrs on and then 4 off. Loved it. Was work eat sleep for 4 days which sucked, but then every week felt like a mini holiday to recharge. Also the long hours meant I could really get stuff done in a day. I was also more likely to stay late because the day is a write-off anyway so why not? I would also check my emails on days off because I would almost get bored with the time. Now I'm doing monday-friday 37.5 hours a week and I've basically quiet quit. Don't want to ever stay late because the evening time is all I have left. Don't check emails anymore because fuck off I'll do it on Monday. And it feels like there's about 3 productive hours before lunchtime then everyone is just trying to make it to the end of the day. Management never listen though.

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GrimMendacity@reddit

Yeh, work as little as you possibly can. Feels mainly for the benefit of the Epstien class anyway.

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julia-the-giraffe@reddit

Take it from someone who quit their full time job to work in a coffee shop. The grass isn’t always greener, the grass is green where you water it. My mum had a long career and every time she got a pay rise she’d just work less hours, it paid off in the long run

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this_is_theone@reddit

By that do you mean you regret the decision to work in a coffee shop? Did you choose that option for less stress?

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Ugglug@reddit

I can’t say about dropping hours as I just can’t afford it but my life changed so much for the better working longer days as shifts. 4 shifts in, 4 off. I’ll never be able to go back to a 5 on 2 off rotation again. It’s soul destroying

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LIONLDN@reddit

Depends, if it's something I love then it's fine, even if more than full time hours, however an office job / regular 9-5, absolutely not! 🚫

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SketchbookProtest@reddit

Instead of a going part time and taking a salary cut, why don’t you do condensed hours? So whatever your full time hours are but over four days?

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ddmf@reddit

I'm Audhd and I've been working for over 30 years - all I seem to do is work, sleep, work, sleep. And there's 17 years of this left.

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ElizabethHiems@reddit

I haven’t work full time since 2006. Work life balance is important.

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powpow198@reddit

Was part time for a few years in early 30s. Was great for a bit but employers tend to take the piss and career progression harder. Now self employed so hours vary week to week which suits better.

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chez2202@reddit

If you can afford to pay your debts on a reduced salary you should do it. But it doesn’t sound as if you can. You also can’t be doing well financially if you are saddled with ridiculous debt. That’s not how it works.

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whyareyoupokingme@reddit

Being saddled with ridiculous debt isn’t really a choice for many (most?) young people in Britain today

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PKblaze@reddit

I mean it is a choice. You choose to go to Uni, you choose to take out various loans for things.

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994phij@reddit

And uni 'debt' is very different to a normal debt. It's more like an increased tax for a (long) while.

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chez2202@reddit

I agree. But choosing to reduce your hours if you have huge debt IS a choice.

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fleetwood_mag@reddit

It’s student debt, so the less they earn the less they’ll pay. It also gets written off in a certain amount of years. I think it might be at 60 for the young lot.

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OutdoorApplause@reddit

If they're referring to student loan debt, and aren't high enough earners to expect to repay it in full before it is written off, then reducing your hours just reduces the payments you make. If the loan's never going to be repaid anyway the extra interest will also be written off. This doesn't work with any other kind of debt of course.

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chez2202@reddit

Absolutely true.

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Fruitpicker15@reddit

I worked in hospitality for years and when I was furloughed during covid it changed me a lot. I'm also ND and I was able to feel the ok for the first time in my life. Since then I've lost several friends in their 30s and 40s as well as my parents to terminal illness and I have absolutely no desire to spend the next 30 years waiting to retire before I can do the things I want to do.

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fn3dav2@reddit

Jobs should really let you take a longer lunch in the middle of the day so you can go to gym or swim.

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YorkshireBloke@reddit

This is why it's so important to me to either be the business owner or sole trader so I can control my own hours and need to work.

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LostHumanFishPerson@reddit

Mid thirties and I’ve realised this isn’t going to change for me. Work is miserable. Every job I’ve had has made me miserable. Just something I’ve got the deal with really

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StrongAverage1832@reddit

It's not for me and currently work 3 days a week. I have a thyroid condition and if I worked 5 days it turns into 7 days because I was having to rest 2 days. 3 days allows me to have the rest day and then I am fine and able to do normal things. When I worked 5 days a week my life was a mess and I was leading a much worse life. If I had to work 5 days I would get a benefit to cover the 2. Luckily due to reasons I can choose to work 3 days.

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escapeshark@reddit

My lifestyle is not for everyone, but here's what I do: work seasons. Basically I'll go somewhere for 4 or 5 months, for example from May to September and work in a hotel/resort/general tourist related thing and then come November/December I'll do it again until like March. And those in between months I travel. When I'm working i go hard, do crazy hours in order to make money so then I can go around and have fun for a month and save up a bit just in case. Again, it's not for everyone. It's tiring, it makes it impossible to find a serious relationship, it's hard to keep up with my friends back home. But honestly it feels less horrible than 9-5 Monday through Friday in the same place with the same people.

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audigex@reddit

I've always figured "You don't have kids, you should work full time" to be a bit of a weird position anyway Kids are expensive. Big houses to have enough space to have kids, are expensive. If you aren't gonna have kids then life gets cheaper and why not work part time? Go for it

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Cha_r_ley@reddit

omg I’ve been thinking about doing the very same thing. It’s not that I hate my job - I actually really like my job. I just wish that more of my time was mine to do with as I please.

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Srapture@reddit

Yeah, it sucks. I'm so tired all the time. On the lead up to the weekend, I always think "the only thing that matters is that I get as much rest as possible", but when the weekend finally comes, I feel like I have to make sure I don't waste it so I end up still keeping busy. Then the week starts again and it feels like I'm at 1HP less than the previous week, ad infinitum. It was absolutely depressing last year that we booked an all expenses paid fancy hotel in Lanzarote because we just needed a fucking break, then... Felt a tickle in the back of my throat on the flight over. Landed, went to sleep, then had a horrific case of flu for 2 weeks. Genuinely the sickest I've ever been in my entire life. Didn't sleep longer than an hour through all the chills and night sweats. Basically ate nothing because I couldn't leave the room. Couldn't swap annual leave for sick leave outside the country, so that was a load of that gone! Then straight back to work after recovering. Gets real hard to find the motivation to keep going some mornings. Can't ever get a real break.

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hippiehappos@reddit

I work part time and know one day when I will have to work full time to afford life I will be miserable because it’s all just work to work

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plutonium-239@reddit

I am 40ish…and I am counting the days to my pension. Work isn’t the most important thing in life.

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Intruder313@reddit

Me and that’s why I went part time years ago I now work 3 days a week but can confirm 4 is the optimal and that should be ‘full time’

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The_Sheep_Wielder@reddit

Without disclosing more information than I need to, I was originally in a job based on shifts, so you could be working anywhere between 5 to 13 hours a day, every other weekend, and the work-life balance did not exist. After a couple of years, I switched to nightshifts - 11 hours a night, 7 nights on, 7 off. 3 Weeks annual leave extra on top; I work less than half the year now. In that downtime, I've actually able to spare time to visit family and friends, and began pursuing new hobbies. Yeah, night shift isn't ideal, and I can't have Christmas off for five years in a row, but to only have to work 23 weeks a year? Beyond rewarding

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DMMMOM@reddit

Yes, you are just covering bills and with extra cash funding holidays and home improvements until you die. Have some kids and at least it seems worthwhile as you pass on the burden.

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PlatypusXI@reddit

Yes. Yes. Yes. I can’t agree enough. I constantly look back over the last few months of work and ask myself “what was that for?” “Is this all there is to life?” “When am I going to start living?” I feel like life must be harder for me, because everyone else seems to be fine with it I recently got a raise to 30k at work, without asking for it. Great, but how about I work less hours for the same wage instead? All I ever want is less, not more. Give me peace, give me time to be myself, to return to the person I was before it all became so difficult.

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haaiiychii@reddit

Full time work isn't for *most* people but we do it because we have to. I'd love a 4 day work week.

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Sea-Tea9524@reddit

It isn't for me either. I worked full time for eight years until I burnt out. I can't stand many factors of the workplace, how cliquey it can be for example. I put my all into my job, including loads of unpaid overtime but I've realised now that there probably aren't many people, at the end of their life wishing they'd worked more. I look after my parents now but have said to myself I will only work part time in the future. Do what makes you happy and sod the haters - they are usually stuck in the race too. "Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar." Friedrich Nietzsche

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speculativeinnature@reddit

I moved to a four day week a year or so ago and it’s improved my life so much. Every week is like a bank holiday weekend. I love it!! Even though I actually really enjoy my job, work just doesn’t have quite the same impact on me anymore, everything seems a lot more « manageable » and therefore, I’m just a lot less stressed. My fiancé is actually thinking of doing the same too as he’s seen the difference it’s made to me.

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Arabatta@reddit

If I could afford it I would love to. I’d even love to condense my 37.5 hours into four long days to get 3 days off.

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therelaxationgrotto@reddit

I’ve requested to go part time at my work out of choice. My partner is already part time but makes money doing a creative hustle on the side. We’ll live in our tiny little house forever, but we’re ok with that! I say go for it if you can swing it financially.

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LadyNajaGirl@reddit

The best way to have a work life balance is to either compress your hours for three days off a week, or choose a shift pattern that works for you and your lifestyle. It helps to work from home if you can which will save on commuter costs as well as time that it would take for you to get to your place of work.

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SerotoninChaser_@reddit

I currently work compressed hours, so full time hours but 4 days a week. My mortgage on my flat is nearly paid off and I'm seriously considering going down to 3 days, which would be 27 hours. I'm just worried I'll regret not having the extra savings if I decide to buy a house. But at the moment a house in an area I want is so beyond me anyway.

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Gold-Advisor@reddit

yes I'm leaving my career for full time only fan

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Nice_Conversations@reddit

When I was in my mid 20s I had moved to London to work and was doing ok money wise. Not rich, but covered all my expenses ok. I decided I wanted to see more of the UK and dropped to a 4 day week and used my 3 day weekends for long trips around the UK, one or two nights somewhere new at least once a month on the cheap. Other long weekends used to explore London, go to the cinema or theatre, explore museums and parks. Absolutely loved it and got to see and experience so much and had a much better work life balance. Money was enough. And my life was way better for it. Did it for a good few years until I changed jobs.

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OliveRecent5050@reddit

I'm moving back from abroad soon to London. This is what I'm hoping to achieve! Any standout places you visited?

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Nice_Conversations@reddit

Too many to count! Went to all parts of the UK, plus Jersey and Guernsey. Pretty much picked a place I hadn't been to or that sounded interesting and went. Sometimes I met up with people, sometimes went with friends, sometimes just by myself. Did lots of couch surfing, meet ups, gigs. Cheap coach and train deals, sometimes cheap flights. And some road trips with mates. Honestly make it an experience to remember and it almost doesn't matter what place you pick. I still meet people these days who were born in a town and barely visited a few miles from there during their whole life. That seems like such a missed opportunity!

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ButterBallsBob@reddit

Sounds fantastic. Well done on prioritising it.

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mangomaz@reddit

I work three days a week and while I have to be really strict with budgeting it works great for me. I also freelance other work which is up and down and the part time work allows me to pick that up as and when. Definitely do it if you can. Full time work is hardcore tbh.

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Minimum_Promotion728@reddit

There is no incentive to work, the only reason we do is to survive, (eat, pay bills, shelter). If we didn’t have to do them things would we work? I doubt it. Some people work out of choice to get them out the house, keep occupied etc but surely if you had to choice to spend time doing a hobby or work you’d choose the hobby you enjoy? I really think we’re coming to a point where we have over evolved - AI has taken over a lot of jobs and will continue to, we also are overpopulated not enough jobs available for the people we already have and the every increasing population. I’ll probably get downvoted for this but I’m not bothered as it’s a burner, but we’re all truly trapped into this system.

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open_formation@reddit

I am able to do frankly insane amounts of browsing social media during my job, to the point that I end up doing unpaid overtime to compensate for the fact that I spent a chunk of my time just pissing about on the internet and feel like I owe my employer a little more time. So from my perspective, a big part of this is the grind, like I honestly don't mind chucking a bit more time into work precisely because I honestly don't find the time I use up that taxing. However conversely, I think that I would probably have more *life*, if I worked less and also more productively. Like if I had a hard-boundaries job which was 15 hours per week, concentrated from the most productive hours of my week only, and I could turn that thing on at will and get those hours, and then spend the rest of the time at leisure, doing social stuff etc. that would probably be better for me, and a lot of why I work the way I do is because I can't just switch that on like a switch, and the work I eventually end up getting done is apparently considered worth the rest of the time. But if I was being forced to grind endlessly? Then no I probably wouldn't be able to put up with it either.

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wardyms@reddit

Compressed my hours, start earlier and finish earlier. Have every other Monday off.

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ArtisticMiddle9543@reddit

I took a pay cut for a four day week and it was great. I did all my household admin and cleaning during the week and had the weekend free. I'm full-time now to save for a move, but would like to drop my hours again eventually. Highly recommend it if you can afford it!

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hoselorryspanner@reddit

Move abroad and quit paying your student loan. Easy

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Johnny_Gorilla@reddit

If the way you are currently working is not working for you then please take a look at asking for reasonable adjustments at work under the Equality Act 2010 before doing something as extreme as taking a pay cut. Is there a union at work you can talk to?

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Ilikeporkpie117@reddit

The only people I know who have voluntarily gone down to part time work without a financial impact were all nearing retirement anyway. Unless you're already a millionaire there's probably no way you can do that yourself

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Really? If a couple were both earning 40k, doing 4 days a week would mean they’d both be earning 32k, which is a combined income of 64k. That, roughly, could afford them a small flat of 300k

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Ilikeporkpie117@reddit

You've just proved my point. Using your example, the couple working 5 days a week would have household income of 80k vs 64k on 4 days a week. That's massive. That's almost an extra £786 per month between them post tax, almost £9.5k per year. If they invested that over 10 years at a nominal 5% interest rate they would end up with over £125k. It makes a very big difference over the long term.

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5c0ttgreen@reddit

Standard Sunday evening feelings

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Genuinely :/

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Robot_Coffee_Pot@reddit

I've got a review tomorrow. The company do everything in their power to find problems with staff to pay them less or drop entirely. I'm really struggling to comprehend how we are meant to live like this.

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Brownchoccy@reddit

Count me in for that as well

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Strong-Librarian-OOK@reddit

I took a pay cut to work a 4 day week. I can afford to live well enough for me on the 4 days, and my quality of life is so much better despite having a bit less money. Money isn’t everything - not least because I have the extra day I’ve actually got time to get stuff done that otherwise I’d end up paying for convenience

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Own_Major8684@reddit

I’m in the same boat - I’m a shift worker, and currently my role is split shift. I’m up out of bed most mornings Monday to Friday at 4:30/5am - do some work up until 10am, split shift until 2pm (but I live a bit of a distance to go home in my split so usually hang around work/picking up overtime if I can) and then work from 2pm and finish just before 6pm most days. Im on a 9 person rotation, and our shifts change each week - 7 weeks are Monday to Friday split shifts, 2 weeks are Sunday/Monday with Tuesday off, then in Wednesday through to Friday. Every Saturday off… I’m fed up of what I’m doing at the minute, it’s an easy job but tiring at times concentrating for such extended periods. I don’t know how I can make my work life better, I need every Saturday off due to my personal life commitments, but the usual routing 7 out of those 9 weeks is a killer. No option for remote working/WFH as it’s impossible. Thinking of a career change, as I’m scraping by on £32k a year but no idea how to go about it

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officialariacat@reddit

Same here, 100%. I’ve been so burnt out for the whole of February so far, but I don’t think there’s any way I can go down to 4 days a week, tragically. My PhD feels like I’ve started a full-time job AND gone back to uni for a degree at the same time, and I really don’t know how much I can keep it up ‑ I only started in October..

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Richard__Papen@reddit

I've worked part time for 20 years. I've never liked work so i do as little as possible to get just enough money.

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Kudosnotkang@reddit

I have. It’s great - impossible to go back to full time though once you’ve tasted it . Fortunately I don’t need to , but bear that in mind if doing it so young (also don’t forget how significant the impact on your pension may be in your 20’s unless you’ve already built one )

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AuthorKindly9960@reddit

Literally everyone! Work sucks

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Thomas5020@reddit

I don't feel the benefits of full time, skilled work are enough to justify throwing away your whole life for it. But short of burning down the entire system, there's not much we can do about it. The point comes when you just have to accept you're just a worker, and that's all we'll ever be.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Yeah fair enough. I don’t feel like there’s a point in having kids and just making them face this same reality

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Thomas5020@reddit

There's no point. This existence is, quite frankly, hell. And any kids people our age have are going to have it even worse. Sure, we're not starving, we've got clothes, and a roof over our head. But if you have to spend the majority of your life working for it and you never get to enjoy your life, why even bother? Don't know about you, but I have real difficulty motivating myself to get out of bed in the mornings now. No matter how hard I work, I will always have to work and I'm unlikely to ever own a house. Feels pretty pointless, I'm not achieving anything.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

I’m glad someone else is saying it, instead of us being called entitled for not licking the billionaires assholes Are you young too?

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Thomas5020@reddit

Yep, I'm in pretty much the same position you are. The only people calling us entitled came from a generation where hard work paid. Hard work no longer pays. Most people won't side with this view however. If you complain about life most people just snap at you. "That's the way it's always been" "you can't change it so stop moaning". Just pure NPC responses, as if you're talking about something you shouldn't be.

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Designer-Computer188@reddit

Everyone...

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sporops@reddit

Sounds kinda entitled

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

And why’s that?

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sporops@reddit

Just because your grandparents could live a certain way, doesn’t mean you can?

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

So we should be going backwards? My grandparents were both uneducated. Me and my partner have three degrees between us. My grandad had a decent job and could support his wife, their two children, and live in a beautiful 3 bed semi detached. My grandma, bless her heart, has never worked a 40 hour job. Soooo… yeah? I think I want more for us, for our generation

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Better_Builder_3504@reddit

It’s not that we SHOULD be going back. It’s just that sad economic reality we live in.

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DannyS2810@reddit

I’ve just started a 4 day week with compressed hours doing 40 over 4 days and Monday off and I love it. The days are longer but I’d often work late anyway so at least I’m now getting paid for it. I also work from home so 10 hours doesn’t feel too bad. The days do feel long but Friday just appears out of nowhere!

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CabinetCalm1970@reddit

> Me and my partner work 40 hour weeks just to afford a fraction of what my grandparents did on a single salary. Don't even go there. The amount of outgoings you have on stuff that people today deem essential is way more than they did, they may not have even had a house phone or a car at your age. The amount of stuff you'll be buying on finance is way more than they did, the amount of takeaways you'll be having will be more than them, the amount of utter shite you buy on impulse enabled by online shopping will be far more than the impulse buying they did. All of those are why you feel like you have less money and can't do as much. Don't believe me? Go talk to them. Ask the what their outgoings were when they were in their mid 20s and first lived together. I think you'll find that it's an extremely short list. Take that list, get your credit card and bank statements out and make a list of your spending then compare their list to yours.

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lynbod@reddit

Try moving out of London?

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Organic-Violinist223@reddit

I used to think like that when I was 20 something and child free, single and enjoyed a lot of hobbies - I was time rich in comparison to now!

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PKblaze@reddit

There's more to life than work. I worked a 50 hour call centre job and eventually burnt out as my mental health took a dive. Quit that and started a remote job, flexible hours and I'm way happier because I can fit my work around my life rather than my life around work.

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PerfectStealth_@reddit

I feel like this and I feel like an outsider thinking like it, everyone else seems to be on autopilot- going through the motions. This can’t be all there is…

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fingered_a_midget@reddit

As someone doing 50 hour weeks, 40 hours seems great

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funnytoenail@reddit

I think. Having hobbies help. I enjoy cycling and running, and I go to and volunteer at my church. That adds a lot of context and added layers of “things to do” and social life to just my job.

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mistensong@reddit

ND here too! I'm self-employed and while I often work 6 (or sometimes even 7) days, I can more or less pick and choose my hours - I work a few hours on weekends by choice, when it's quiet and nobody's bothering me. I don't usually work full days, though; I usually start around 10-11am and I'm usually wrapped up by 5 or so. This suits me perfectly. I used to work full time in an office job 9-5 and I ended up feeling like you do - all work and stress and it burned me out. I took a big hit in pay when I went self-employed and I'm still not back at the pay level I was when working full time, but it's well worth the pay cut just for the sake of my mental health and wellbeing. It took me a decade to realise it, but regular office work in a corporate environment just really isn't for me. It was slowly killing me.

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CakeKrazy@reddit

I'm ND too, can I ask your line of work? I'm in IT / Digital Project Management and have found working from home the last 18 months has been so much better for me!

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mistensong@reddit

I'm in accountancy, with a bit of finance management in there too. I work exclusively from home too (other than the occasional client visit), which is ideal for me. Peace and quiet and the ability to set my own schedule! I seriously don't think I could handle going back to a busy office.

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CakeKrazy@reddit

Sounds amazing and good luck with everything! I found being self employed tough when I tried it. I prefer stable income and I was so bad asking and chasing for payments.

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Tattycakes@reddit

I would LOVE a three day weekend but I just can't afford it. Two days just never feels like enough time to chill, recover from the week, catch up on chores, fit in some activities, and then prepare for the next week. Every time we have a three day weekend and a four day week, it feels like you've actually got a chance to live your life!

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MagicalTrianglez@reddit

You don’t get to stop playing. Yeah, the game is tough, even unfair, but there is no other. You say you already have financial pressures so taking a paycut isn’t going to solve anything. Your employer might allow a 4 day week, but you’ll be back of the queue for promotions. Don’t forget the need to fund the pension - a lower income now will be a huge reduction to your pension in 40 years. No one has a magic bullet - you just have to press on, like everyone else is.

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PrestigiousTest6700@reddit

So I work 1 part time job ( self employed ), 1 freelance job and 1 zero hour contract. So I work “part time” but with flexible time. I have 2 children left/leaving school and have not worked “full” time conventionally in a long time. I’m anxious now my children are moving on and don’t have 1 real job but the appeal makes me anxious. I’d rather do 3 jobs than 1 that drags me to hell on a better wage.

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NextTomatillo2335@reddit

I went self employed for this reason - wanted to spend more time with my elderly family post covid after experiencing the flexibility of being at home all the time after years of business travel and long hours in London. I was seeing work return to normal post Covid and thought fuck it. Some months I financially find things harder especially setting up my own business and although I’d like to travel more self employment also makes that a little harder - but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m calmer, and feel like I just get to spend more time with the people I love, doing things I love. Whether it’s just walking the dog longer because I have more time that day - or time to sit in the garden with a coffee … my life is more relaxed and purposeful rather than a treadmill

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360Saturn@reddit

This used to not be uncommon. It's only with the cost of living it's become normalised that everyone **has** to work full time 'or else'. There used to be back in the 90s comedy tv programmes where the heroes were people who chose to live on benefits. The popular perception at the time was that this was a little weird because who would want to live such a frugal existence when they could work and be able to afford to live more comfortably. There wasn't the same anger and disgust at 'scroungers' that there is today.

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PsychologicalClue6@reddit

Fellow neurodivergent here. If you can get by on less, the pay cut in exchange for a less trying work week will absolutely worth it.

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peddersuk@reddit

Us older people have always thought the same. But we chose to do that anyway because we wanted to own and do nice things.

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mp3_afterlifeavgd74d@reddit

I’ve been thinking this, I know I need to do it for my mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. But leaving and finding a new job is scary! I mean I’m in my late 20’s and single parent though, working this much is just feeling less and less worth the stress.

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fleetwood_mag@reddit

I’ve worked part-time and self-employed in some capacity since I was 28. I’m poor, managed to buy a house the year before my exodus from standard full-time work, and I save my money so I do manage to move forward financially a bit. Other than some financial stress I love being part-time. I love the freedom. It’s been 9 years now and I dread the idea of ever having to go back to the drudgery. I’ve lived in a motorhome and then a static caravan to keep costs cheap, and rented out my house. I now live in my partners house, so that’s helpful. If you have the option to earn decent enough money and have a 3 day weekend I say take it! Life is for living, not accumulating conspicuous purchases to convey some idea of who you are. I recommend a book called ‘Spent’ and ‘Your Money of Your Life’ to help with spending habits. You’ll probably earn plenty to live a nice life, people just get too caught up in buying shit.

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Mutant0401@reddit

I worked with a guy who was obsessed with retiring early so he had time to enjoy himself later. Worked himself to the bone but managed to stop work at 52. He died of a heart attack at 54. You're not proposing anything radical like not working entirely and two incomes is a bit of a cheat code if you don't plan on having kids. You could both probably go down to 20-25 hours a still outearn a single person for perspective.

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SceneDifferent1041@reddit

I can smell the hair dye and nosering in this post.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Questioning a capitalist system doesn’t always come with a specific look. The billionaires won’t protect you

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Raunien@reddit

As though you need to be some leftist radical to be unhappy with the experience of working lol. You just need to have *experienced working*.

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blinky84@reddit

For the record, I'm autistic spectrum. I can't handle a 40hr week. 30 is manageable but doesn't leave me much energy for much else. I'm currently on 20, but also studying part time. I've basically made peace with the idea of 40hrs being out of reach for me. My partner and I could do with a bigger house and my debt has been growing of late (mostly unavoidable expenses; car and vet bills). But for now, it's just about enough - if we can concentrate on not hoarding crap in our 1-bed flat.

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Emergency_Mistake_44@reddit

Yep, having this debate with my mum recently who keeps saying I'd be better with a 9-5. I simply don't want to work that many hours. I earn enough to cover rent and bills (with partner on roughly the same), I like the freedom and time at my disposal. I dont borrow money, don't get benefits, just live a modest life and have treats/holidays after saving up. I'm nearly 40, been working since I was 16 and at this stage of my life I'd much rather have double the time with half the money than the other way around. Plus I can always get more hours/money if needed for whatever situation. It's far easier to get a different job than it is to get time back.

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Raunien@reddit

What even is "full time"? I do a lot of surveys, and they consider full time to be 30 hours+. So, according to their standards, I do work full time. But, most "proper" jobs expecting you be there 40 hours a week, so is that full time? Personally, 30 hours is my absolute maximum. I gradually increased over the years from the 20 I started on in order to get more money, but I hate not feeling like I have any free time. Between work, self-maintenance, and my share of the house work, I don't get to enjoy my hobbies to anywhere near the degree I would like. Assuming I even have the energy. How the hell do people manage with more? My boss somehow juggles 45 hours a week (and also his wife with however many she works) with looking after two children. Where do they find the time to sleep?!

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Funky_monkey2026@reddit

I went on a 2 week holiday and built a gym from a patch of dirt and spent 7 years in Cyprus. I'd also work in construction whilst running the gym so shifts were 6am-9pm Mon-Fri, 6am-4pm Saturday. Not quite part time but still fun.

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peachypeach13610@reddit

I mean… wouldn’t this be the preferred choice for almost anyone?! It’s just not a financially viable option for the vast majority of people, much less in London.

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Astronaut_Street@reddit

I do a 4 day compressed week, no salary or hours cut but I just work my hours on 4 days. The monday off is absolutely amazing and really makes the weekend feel like a full break. I love it so much.

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emimagique@reddit

I'm autistic and I fucking hate full time work. School made sense but work has just never clicked for me, I'm crap at most jobs because I find them so incredibly boring and I can't focus on things I'm not interested in. I would love to go down to part time but I'm single and I rent so I'm not sure I could take the hit financially

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BroodLord1962@reddit

But you've got debt and already say you just basically get by, if you go to less hours then your life is only going to get worse. You clearly aren't doing well financially because if you were you would not be in debt

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peepooplop@reddit

I also felt like this. So I became self employed and work 50 hours a week. I’m (sort of) joking. Some weeks I work 50 hours. Some weeks I work 20 hours. The flexibility means I can take more than 5 weeks annual leave and this work/life balance works well for me. I have friends who work 4 days a week. The extra day makes a huge difference. Remember that we work to live.

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Hello_Bardoit@reddit

I'm 34 and haven't worked full time since I was in my mid-twenties. I hated it and it took a real toll on my mental health, I was always off sick and my work was poor because I just did not want to be there. I dropped to 4 days and it was like I could breathe again. I have a day to do something for myself, no work no childcare. I no longer have any issues with my mental health and haven't been off sick in years. That being said, I don't have any debts other than the mortgage so the trade off for me was just less spending money.

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MrStilton@reddit

I haven't gone part-time, but I do work compressed hours, which lets me get one day off every two weeks. If you work somewhere that supports this, I'd recommend giving it a go.

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confused_mani@reddit

I’m late 20s, live with my partner and work full-time - 37 hours and mainly from home with the odd day in the office. I wouldn’t consider the work itself stressful but life challenges and also being neurodiverse means I get stressed and burnt out more easily than others. I had some annual leave to use so took every Friday off last month. Having that short experience of a 4 day week was so refreshing; that extra day just to relax, wind down or do something fun without worrying was definitely needed. I felt more rested before starting a new week. Now I’ve resumed working 5 days and I’m missing a 4 day week. Several people at work do 3-4 days and I’m seriously considering something similar. Obviously the pay cut puts me off, so I’ve thought about doing 37 hours over 4 days. The days may be longer but the benefits would be worth it.

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Snickydoo@reddit

I worked 4 days a week 7 hours a day, for exactly what you have said, apathy to working. It was really beneficial to focus on my health and hobbies and then after 1 year I went back to full time. I made this decision so I can earn more while I am young and hopefully retire sooner. Its not a permanent decision, you can go back to full time in the future

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ImmanuelK2000@reddit

yep, I (reluctantly) work 3 days a week at the moment. Would do less but it wouldn't be enough to pay rent+food+1-2 holidays/year. Also neurodivergent. Fuck 40hrs a week of work.

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Grand_Act8840@reddit

I don’t know anybody who WANTS to work full time. We are forced to, to survive and pay bills. You are no different.

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IHaveARebelGene@reddit

I'm also nd but didn't realise until my 40s. When in my 20s I burnt out constantly from full time work so I made the decision to work part time. I've never regretted it. Before having kids i used my spare time to work on my allotment and volunteer in my community, as well as going to as many festivals as I could. I've been really broke at times but happy. Now I've kids, we've managed to save and buy a house and still work part time (4 days a week). I need that extra day free in the week just to catch up on housework, exercise and life admin, all my other time is taken up with my kids. Work should just be about enabling to live, you shouldn't just live to work.

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TickTackTonia@reddit

I think a lot of us feel this way to be honest. If I were in a position to work part time, I absolutely would! I also struggle with overstimulation, which makes stress and anxiety high, and had to switch from day shifts to nights because I just couldn't handle feeling constantly burnt out and overwhelmed.

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bix_box@reddit

You have to find meaning and direction in your life outside of work. Everyone for all of humanity has had to work to survive. We actually have the most "free time" of any humans in the past. I have hobbies, friends, passions, and interests that I pursue not only on the weekend but after work as well. If you get home from work and sit on your ass and doomscroll every day, yes you're going to hate your life You live in London, there are a million (low cost) things you can do nearly every day at your fingertips. Don't use the excuse of working 9-5 as to why you aren't doing them. After sleep and work, you have about 70 hours every week to do something meaningful or something that excites you.

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IAmLaureline@reddit

It's a good way to avoid burnout if you are neurodivergent. You'll have more time to do things like make cheaper food, buy second hand clothes etc.

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isaytruisms@reddit

I was made redundant a few months ago, so picked up contract work instead. I'm currently aiming to have about 20hrs a week of work steadily, then do extra in busy months (spring / autumn). At the moment it seems like it should work out nicely, and contracting work pays very well for the industry I'm in so I can still save some money and spend somewhat carelessly, albeit while keeping a much bigger emergency fund now

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

I think if you're saddled with "ridiculous debt" then you can't really afford to go to a 4 day week. I'm absolutely not a fan of working full time, but until the house is more paid off and the work it needs done is done, I won't be able to drop down to fewer hours. I'm torn between either working part-time, or saving up to retire early. Nowhere near having to make that choice yet though.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

I mean like… re the debt, (student loan), what will the 4 day week affect? It’s 9% of my salary over 28k anyways. Not like it’ll get worse if I earn less.

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

I would just like to point out that you didn't specify in your OP that your debt is only student loans. You just said "saddled with ridiculous debt".

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AdmiralRiffRaff@reddit

Student loans are ridiculous tbh

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

No well that’s fair. Student loans are ridiculous debt but they don’t exactly encourage me to earn more

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oktimeforplanz@reddit

If student loans are your only debt then it's a very different prospect. If your debt was basically anything else then a pay cut is inadvisable, but when your debt is the one kind of debt where a pay cut is a non-issue, then of course. There's no reason not to take the pay cut if everything else is still affordable within the resulting take-home. I'm personally climbing in terms of salary so that if/when I take a pay cut, I'm starting from a relatively high point. I need to clear down my non-student loan debt though before that becomes realistic.

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Chocolategirl1234@reddit

I’m old, probably older than your parents. I’ve always worked full time, it’s worked for me - I can now afford to do nice things and will probably be able to retire before state pension age. I can’t comment on whether this would work for you. What I will say is do you need to live in London? Housing costs there are so much higher than anywhere else, no wonder you feel like this. Love from a proud northerner.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the comment Yes I’m from london, got all my ties here, so in a way it’s cheaper to stay here than move anywhere else in the south east. Used to live in Newcastle where I was a millionaire in comparison! I’m glad full time worked for you, I know some people are more resilient, but it makes me depressed

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Chocolategirl1234@reddit

Well good luck with what you decide to do x

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OpenCantaloupe4790@reddit

We’re a healthy couple without children who work part-time. We can afford to and life’s too short. My grandma had a friend who retired at 60, he’d saved carefully all his life for a nice retirement, got diagnosed with late stage cancer about a week after retiring. You just never know.

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CanWeNapPlease@reddit

We're in our mid/late 30s and hoping to have a baby by the end of the year (IVF). I've already decided I don't want to go back full time, so I'll will drop to 4 days a week. But I'm honestly contemplating 3 days a week if we can afford it (without ever dipping too much into rainy day funds.) I want my husband to drop to 4 days as well but for some reason the company rarely allows men to drop days without extending their hours (but allow women to do it with no extra hours even if their children are quite grown up).

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Drunkinsurburbia@reddit

I work a 3 day week, I choose to study for 2 more but then I actually get a weekend as well. Studying is only Oct-June so a 3 day week over the summer is bliss.

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Heewna@reddit

Yeah, I’m 41 and do a four day week, I was so tired that I had no energy to actually live my life, it was making me depressed. I was so fucked nights and weekends that I was buying meal deals instead of taking a packed lunch, buying coffees and high sugar food, and getting takeaways in the evenings. I figure as long as some of the money I’ve lost as earnings I can make up meal prepping I’ll be happy. It’s been six months and I’d say it’s working well.

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WhenyoucantspellSi@reddit

I'm 27 and have been working. The last 5 years, most of that part time. I'm luckily because I still live with my dad and sister, and we own our house so dont have too many expenses. I barely feel I have enough time to live my life working 25-30 hours, I think I'd really struggle fulltime. I dont have any desire to get married or have kids and we're all quite happy living in an intergenerational household long term. I Don't put much value on having a career, but it does make saving up for the future harder. It's your life and you only get one chance to live it. Do what you want, not what others do.

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millerz72@reddit

You shouldn’t feel like you need an excuse to go part time; if you can afford to do it and it’s what you want absolutely go for it. One thing to consider (and this is likely employer dependent). It may be relatively easily to drop some hours, you may find it more difficult in the future to increase your hours if you subsequently decide to do so.

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AlGunner@reddit

Yep. Ive always felt work just takes all of your energy and saps the life out of you. But then again I had a very bad childhood and now know I have several medical conditions as a result so Im not your normal person. I couldnt afford to not work full time but did change jobs from office work to sales and found being out and about suited me better.

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itwasntme__@reddit

"doing well financially" and "saddled in ridiculous debt". Somethings not adding up there.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

Haha I meant student debt I’ll edit that. But there we are

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

If I could, I’d go part time. It’s just not possible in this economy as a single parent. My mum died at 49 and was still employed right up til her death from cancer. I’m 40 in a couple of months and to think she was only 9 years older than me when she died and got no chance to live her life really scares me. My dad has been retired for a few years now and I envy his freedom.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

That scares me too. I have a lot of health problems popping up here and there and I’m quite a stressed person. Sometimes I worry I’ll just drop dead

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Gashmina@reddit

Yes I agree. I feel like working is a such a waste of my time, if I could afford to go part time or quit working altogether I would do it in a heartbeat.

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RonieBones@reddit

Noone wants to work mate, if you can't afford London then move or suck it up and spend the time off you have doing something worthwhile.

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amandathepanda51@reddit

Do you have to live in London ? I live in Glasgow and it’s a fraction of the cost for a home. I mean there’s lots of other places in the uk too. But London prices are insane and this does add a lot to life’s pressures.

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BG3restart@reddit

For a time I worked full-time hours over four days instead of five. Having that extra day off made a big difference to my quality of life.

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InspiringGecko@reddit

If you’ve got debt, then you’re not doing well financially. This is the life we’re living. Many people are working at least 40 hours a week just to survive. It sucks. But most people can’t afford to work part time. And if you’ve got debt, it sounds like you can’t either. You might just need to accept this is how life is. We’re not children anymore.

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Radiant_Fondant_4097@reddit

>doing well financially and career wise, but I just feel like, is this all there is to life? Well put it this way, if you're well off you get to ask this question. If you aren't... well you just have to put up with up with it and keep grinding. That said work is fucking miserable, doesn't matter how cushty the company makes it the money just doesn't pay the bills and it's a never ending fucking grind having the will to pursue any fun dwindles away.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

No, I know. The fact I’m young, living in London and can even fathom a part time schedule financially is an immense privilege. I just feel bad that so many people are fighting tooth and nail to even survive. I just think it sucks that this is the norm

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SamDublin@reddit

Sounds good, good luck to ya.

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rdxc1a2t@reddit

I moved to a 9 day fortnight at the start of last year and then needs meant that I ended up taking most of my working Fridays off as well. In the end, I worked only 6 five day weeks last year and work generally occupied so little of my mind. Even though I spent more time at work than off work, it really didn't feel like it. This year, so far, I've kept to the 5 day/4 day routine and the difference between the weeks has been noticeable. Getting through a 4 day week is a breeze whilst a five day week feels like an ordeal. As for the weekends, the 2 day weekends are blink and I miss them whilst at the end of a 3 day weekend I feel like I've been off work for a week, properly rested and all.

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Initial-Biscotti-220@reddit

I’m neurodivergent too and I don’t know if that’s what makes the difference but I can’t imagine working 5 days a week either. It already stresses me out thinking about it

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Alwayslearnin41@reddit

When I started working, full time was 37.5 hours a week 9-5 with 30 mins for lunch. Full time now appears to be a min 40 hours, often 45 hours. And part time which used to be 16 hours, can now be anything from 30 - 37 hours. If going to 4 days still has you working in the region of 30 hours, you're still working what I would have considered to be full time just 30 years ago. And I think there's way more to life. Do what you want if you can afford it.

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Obvious_Flamingo3@reddit (OP)

That’s a very fair statement. I think the goalposts have shifted

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BaldyBaldyBouncer@reddit

It's not for anyone. You really think billionaires are sitting in the same office for 40 hours a week? Of course not because they've convinced you that's your only option.

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queefybean@reddit

I’m on the median wage which isn’t much to live on but once I get a promotion or two I am strongly considering going down to four days or at least working somewhere that’ll let me do full time hours in four days

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Purp1eMagpie@reddit

I mean yeah. It sucks. Trouble is I like buying things too much. I did do four day weeks for a while but it was still the same 37 hour week. Even so, the quality of life improvement was unreal. You wouldn't think so for just one extra day, but come Thursday night it was so nice. I used to use my Fridays to do the boring stuff like haircuts, dentist, car services, house stuff or whatever. That then left Saturday and Sunday entirely for what I wanted to do every week.

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tr4sht4lk@reddit

I have been thinking about this more in the last few weeks. I burn out so easily, and WFH does not help the feeling of not being able to separate work life ratio. I have hobbies and friends luckily but I still feel drained. I do have a mortgage, but am single so I do need to think seriously if the pay decrease would be doable. But I do think I'd be 100% happier even just thinking about it

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Academic_Rip_8908@reddit

Yep! I can't cope with full-time work. My partner and I (early 30s) both work self-employed part-time, which works for us. We have less money, but more time for hobbies and interests.

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Immediate_Machine_92@reddit

I worked full-time from leaving university age 23, until my 28th birthday. Literally my 28th birthday because I took my birthday off work and while I wasn't there, they gave all my work to other people. I was already working my notice period after quitting but when I came back and had nothing to do, they offered to let me go early and I agreed. For the 15 years since then I've been freelance. When the economy was doing better, that was a full-time job at times, but I usually do almost nothing on Mondays and Tuesdays, about a half-day on Wednesdays and Thursdays, a full day to hit deadlines on Fridays, then take weekends off. I'll do little top-up 'sprints' some evenings or late nights to clear bits of work, but only if I feel like it. It's stressful at times and I'm not making as much money right now as I'd like, but the quality of life is insane compared with commuting an hour to work, working 8-9 hours with a short lunch break, then commuting an hour home again, adding up to half my life on weekdays when all's said and done. And then trying to get 6-8 hours' sleep too, leaving a grand total of about 4 hours for absolutely everything else. Not sure if I'm neurodivergent but I have a top-0.5% IQ and I sympathise with a lot of ADHD characteristics. I was the kid at the school disco with earplugs because it was too loud. I am (genuinely) curious how you can be both 'doing well financially' and 'saddled in ridiculous debt'. I guess you mean you have a reasonable monthly income but a big backlog of debts to clear? If so, you might want to try to pay off some of your debts before you switch to a work-lite lifestyle, because it's gonna be easier to sustain it with fewer debts (and less interest accruing) and you definitely won't want to go back to working a 40+ hour week if the finances get tight. Other than that, if you can make the money work and everything else, I'd say go for it, and remember to make the most of the extra time off (although there's nothing wrong with doing ABSOLUTELY nothing on a Monday every so often, just because you can!)

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Treeblark@reddit

Intend to only work part-time for the rest of my life, once I get a job of course. Anyone hiring? Haha jk no one is

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DeCyantist@reddit

I like money more to retire yearly and got a job with plenty of remote working

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Bababalaba2712@reddit

Personally I love my job it’s a social life for me and u wouldn’t change it. Just need to find what fulfills you

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soulsteela@reddit

I feel I’m much more suited to absolutely stunning opulence than work to be honest.

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wallenstein3d@reddit

My wife works 3 days per week as a doctor. The stress of a full week was just too much and she’s much happier with a couple of extra days off. She gets to pick the kids up from school rather than appearing midway through dinner, and she’s got time to enjoy daylight and sunshine (well, not so much at the moment) and help with the PTA and get to sports days etc. Was a hit financially but better that than burning out, and the kids would rather have time with their mum each week rather than using the extra salary for expensive holidays to make up for the late evenings.

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PARFT@reddit

you have to do something ffs. just find something you enjoy and don’t put your life on hold until you are too old to enjoy it.

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Proper_North_5382@reddit

I'm on the pathway for a neuridivergent diagnosis, hopefully with an assessment in the next few months. Since I started working I've always worked part time, the first few years in retail and in a school for the past year and a half. Retail rarely seems to offer full time anyway. Even if working in a school part time I'm still in for 5 days a week and pay isn't necessarily great, the holidays definitely make up for it.

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Formal_Produce_8077@reddit

my partner and i moved out of london (to scotland) because of this. im 27, he's 29. i was born and raised in london and thought id never leave, but fell pregnant and we realised life in london for two of us and a baby was.. completely unaffordable. we were lucky enough to have a deposit for a house (his gran left some money when she passed) and what could buy us a bedsit/one bed in london has affrded us a three bed where we are. i'm not working (looking to go back to part time work/more uni later this year when the little one is older) and he is hopefully going to be dropping down to four days a week -- our life is STILL affordable with him dropping a day i guess what im trying to say is, maybe think about whether living in london is worth it for you guys. my partner wfh and i'm basically staying in uni as long as i can so moving was an okay thing for us (a tad isolating because 98% of our family/friends are still in england). its been worth it to afford the quality of life that we want, with wanting to raise a family and start a slower paced life being a priority to us (we're both neurospicy btw)

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Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

I did this. Took a pay cut for less pay. I'm poorer but happier and so much more rested and relaxed.

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hyper-casual@reddit

I'm currently weighing up how viable it'll be to go to 4 days soon. Money wise I'd be fine, but I need to ensure that I don't get lumped with the same amount of work and expected to complete it in a shorter time period etc I'm also ND, diagnosed with ADHD. Work just takes up too much mental energy to have any meaningful time outside of work, and I need to shift the balance somehow.

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TSR2Wingtip@reddit

I work four days. My regular three day job, and a day of self employed. Yes I'm losing out on money. But those three days off, plus my more causal side gig day are priceless for my mental health.

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Cowsudders@reddit

I did 4 days a week for years. It's great, that Friday feeling starts Thursday afternoon. You do feel a little on the side if the rest of your team works full time though as you miss meetings etc. Small price.

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Stinkinhippy@reddit

I barely scrape by on my hours, but I’m not half as miserable about it as the full timers I know who ain’t much better off because they buy the types of things i couldn’t/wouldnt.

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LouTheOM@reddit

I agree completely. I’m happy earning enough to keep myself alive and save a bit, at the moment I work full time in a temp role and feel like life is just passing me by, but once the contract is over I’m planning on finding a part time role so that I can have some time back.

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NeedleworkerMiddle22@reddit

Sounds reasonable to go to 4 days a week. Your parents are from a different generation.

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