Compressed work week: need your opinions

[ksg68]

I really need your thoughts on this one. Here's some background:

I work 30 hours a week and I have total flexibility on when I start work and when I leave. My quandry is: do I work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week or should I compress my work week (7.5 hours/day, 4 days a week) and have Friday's off? Let me provide you some background:

Kids' schedule
I have 3 kids who are all involved in sports. Their activities usually start at 5:30 or 6:00 depending upon the day; the only day we don't have activities is Wednesday. I pick them up at school at 3:40; if they rode the bus home, they wouldn't get home until 4:50, which obviously is too late to get homework done, dinner and out the door again.

My schedule
Currently, I work 7:00-3:00; my commute is usually 30 minutes. I love this schedule, however, in order to get my workouts in, I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. While I'm an early riser and I've done it many times before, the thought of getting up that early again, (especially with the cold winter nights/mornings coming) isn't that appealing.

Having Fridays off is so great; I can get my cleaning and grocery shopping done (w/out interruption!) and have the weekend to totally have fun with the family. Plus, DH can come home for lunch and we can have a "date" in the mid-afternoon. For example, this Friday, he's taking the day off and we're having lunch, going to the movies and start our Christmas shopping. But, I must say that the workouts aren't as consistent because of the 4:00 alarm.

So you see, the best time for me to work out is in the morning. I'm more likely to stay consistent when I get it out of the way. If I were to work 5 days a week, I wouldn't have to get up until 5:00. If I work 4 days a week with Fridays off, I have to get up at 4:00. What would you do?

Thank you!

 

[Liann]

I would sell my right kidney to have a 4 day work week! I can see that it might not work with kid's schedule though. Would it be possible to just try it out for a week or 2 and if you didn't like it, go back to the way things were?

 

[celestialtimes]

I've been getting up at 4 AM every morning to workout and be at work...sometime after 8:30...If I can do it...you can too! And think about that extra day of weekend...Ahhhh....it's so hard to get things done during the week...a day of being able to get errands done and not work...what a blessing that would be....

 

[dorothyrd]

I would work 5 days a week, because right now it is more important to shuttle kids around and such which is much easier getting off at 3. Later when they don't need you as much you could shift and have the weekends off. This is how I did it when my kids were younger. Plus being around after school with them is VERY important, especially as they get older. You want to know what they are up to.

 

[DeborahG]

I am also fotunate in that I can choose to work 5 longer days or 4 shorter ones. I prefer to work 4 shorter ones, although it also means I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to work out on those days. However, it's worth it to have Friday off, and I don't have to get up quite that early on Fri., Sat. or Sun. Having a 3-day weekend seems SO much longer than a 2-dayer. I am so lucky! (Of course, I often end up going into the office on the Friday anyway, because I have a huge backlog of work. So much for my 4-day plan!)

So, in sum, I vote for the 4-day week. Just get up a little later on the other 3 days!

Good luck!

Deborah

 

[SirenSongWoman]

Can you do the 5-day work week during the winter (when getting up in a cold house real early is such a drag) and switch to a compressed work week when the weather turns warm again (when the weather is lovely and you want to get up)? That's what I'd do if I could.

 

[banslug]

I'm totally a delayed gratification girl....so I'd put in the hours and work M-Th and enjoy my Fridays!!!!

Gayle