Interesting how many replies cite more time with the family etc

I sacked off Fridays specifically to go biking lol

Rockape63, no i’m in the Midlands, £2.40 for a quality real ale, steak’n’ale pie, chips and peas, £3.00.

Wifey does not care i only earn a third of her salary, when she asks what i’ve been doing today i’ll say, walked the dog, went skateboarding, pub for lunch and then snoozed on the sofa for an hour or two, her reply will be something along the lines of “nice”.

Yes, i am living the dream. 

You just sound lazy. Wifey should kick you into touch.

Currently doing a 50hr + week in 5 days, plus setting off at 3am Monday mornings and getting home at 8pm Friday – actually last week was 70 hrs as I didn’t go home. Currently on day 10 of 12.

Sometimes shit just needs doing 😉

its **** brilliant

You dont lose as much as you think [ tax reasons] and dont need holidays as much

if you take Monday you get extra holidays due to BH as well!!

Not going back ever

did it for a young family they are at school now so biking mainly

You just sound lazy. Wifey should kick you into touch.

Currently doing a 50hr + week in 5 days, plus setting off at 3am Monday mornings and getting home at 8pm Friday – actually last week was 70 hrs as I didn’t go home. Currently on day 10 of 12.

You just sound like a workaholic. Kids must miss you.

Life is short

I did 35 hours a week over 4 days for 6 months and loved it. New role wouldn’t consider it and I’m finding 5 days a week is definitely at least one day too much

Recently dropped to a 0 days week. The hours really work well but the money’s not great!

You just sound lazy. Wifey should kick you into touch.
Currently doing a 50hr + week in 5 days, plus setting off at 3am Monday mornings and getting home at 8pm Friday – actually last week was 70 hrs as I didn’t go home. Currently on day 10 of 12.

To pay for a shiny truck that no-one else is impressed by?

Your awesome, are you related to surf-Matt?

TheArtist, i’m 51 now, paid my dues, done the 70+ hours a week, paid my mortgage off twice, you sound bitter and jealous, 😉
I’m Knocking it on the head in two years time, moving to Wales to ride the trails, lifes too short. 😀

Recently had a kiddie and got rid of a load of work (self employed) so I effectively work 4.5 days one week and 3.5 the other on the fortnightly schedule. Next year I plan to drop this a bit more. I drop down to average 1 day a week Dec-Feb.

I cannot bear the thought of missing a lot of time with the wee guy. I can always ramp up business again when he is a stroppy teen but for now it’s priority baby and will be for a few years. We have been careful with cash and don’t have a mortgage which helps. I can’t imagine what I’d do or gain by having a load more cash but little time.

I am thinking of dropping my working week down to 3 days – with extras as and when needed sometime later this month.

If I don’t do so now, then it may get put off until next year depending on if, when and where we move. I like the idea of a 4 day weekend, although not so keen on the financial implications which may result! But hell, it’s only money!

Currently doing a 50hr + week in 5 days, plus setting off at 3am Monday mornings and getting home at 8pm Friday – actually last week was 70 hrs as I didn’t go home. Currently on day 10 of 12.

I am surrounded by this sort of mentality.

A couple of points to counter this idiocy:

You’re a long time dead. Why push yourself there quicker and giving the hours to someone else?

I don’t know ANY parent who thinks they spent too much time with their kids while they were growing up.

I don’t know ANY parent who thinks they spent too much time with their kids while they were growing up.

I don’t know. There are some days….

I do. Work for a large aerospace company with quite a bit of responsibility and people who work for me. I do long days, off on a Friday. I didn’t drop my hours so the 4 days are pretty intense. I also keep tabs of things at home on the day off. To be honest, it has had nothing but a positive effect on every aspect of my life, including work.

However, if you do it this way, I would say it isn’t easy, and, I am always conscious that if I miss a deadline some smart arse will assume it is because I am not in on a Friday. Our company only does a half day on Friday anyway.

This means that now our youngest has started school, I can do the school run, go to their assembly, go for a ride, DIY, tidy house cook tea, pick the children up and take them to tennis lessons 🙂 We also have the benefit that my wife has just changed to a 25 hour week. I have to say we feel very lucky, but realise it may not last so make the most of it.

I work a compacted fortnight so full time pay and all the leave but get every other Monday off with the kids. Still accrue flexi hours too so occasionally get an extra day off as well! Really just a way of forcing yourself to take flexi accrued.

Yes, since my wife went back to work two days a week, I’ve had our toddler on one day and she does to nursery on the other. Love it!

pete68 – Member
Recently dropped to a 0 days week. The hours really work well but the money’s not great!
POSTED 5 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

😀

why did so many people choose to drop Fridays instead of Mondays, just out of interest?

I can purchase three more weeks of holiday a year, bringing the total to 5. I’ll probably do it in a year or two.

I’m having to go the other way.

Last 4 years I’ve been working continental shifts, 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off. Absolutely **** brilliant. 2 days, then a lie in, do some house chores, maybe a ride. 2 nights, leave work on the last morning a go for a ride for a couple of hours, home by 10. Shower, bed, up for when the family is home from school.

I’ve just been forcibly seconded on to 5 days until Xmas. Everyone thinks I’m lucky to get a day job. There is only one worse work pattern and that is 5 day 3 shifts, nights, earlies, afternoons.

I’ve turned down 3 jobs in the last 2 years because of the working patterns. One was a 50% pay increase, but the balance was all work.

Full time 4 day week here. 9hr day, 07:30-17:10 inc a 40 minute lunch. Rolling day off.

Its fantastic, and a 9-5 job would feel like half the morning was wasted after nearly 10 years on this roster pattern.

Last year was tightly budgeted and I had nearly every day off…off, this year there is plenty of work, and I’ve voluntarily worked almost every single one.

I would consider the 12hr 3 day pattern but I think it might be a tad too much, especially in the winter as I work outside so it means working in the dark on what is a detailed/fiddly job needing lots of lighting. It seems to be a more common pattern for night workers in our company.

Why Friday off to ensure a long weekend .Why not Monday because our workflow means Monday takes all the new cases from Saturday and Sunday and all the 4 and 5 day jobs so Monday needs to be all hands on deck.We specifically ensured our ” more harm than good” colleague got Monday as his day off. Also in a small badly managed firm it preserves all the benefit of Monday bank holidays without an argument and an elaborate calculation.

Went for Friday because my company already does shortened 7 hour Fridays, so it meant dropping less hours.

I can purchase three more weeks of holiday a year, bringing the total to 5. I’ll probably do it in a year or two.

If you have kids under 5 then you are also entitled to take (unpaid) Parental Leave of up to 4 weeks a year per child.

https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/overview

Currently doing a 0 day week and it’s the best decision ever!

If I go back to work no way am I ever going to work 5 days a week.

why did so many people choose to drop Fridays instead of Mondays, just out of interest?

in my office you dont get the bank hollidays you don’t work, and most bank hollidays are on monday.

Seems split between people doing 4 days or doing 5 short days here. Id take it and ive no kids!

Two points

1) On your death bed – will you look back and remember the time spent in an office and the things you’ve owned (like a flash car) OR the experiences you’ve had, places you’ve been, people you’ve met, positive relationships with your family etc..

2) More you earn, the richer you die.

why did so many people choose to drop Fridays instead of Mondays

On Fridays we finished slightly earlier so by the time I’d commuted there (25 miles) and immersed myself in the ‘f*ck it its Friday’ mentality it was hardly worth going

BTW am so looking forward to going biking tomorrow. Mrs is meeting her mum, kids are in full-time education and my bike is fettled to MotoGP standards. Go me

Also in a small badly managed firm it preserves all the benefit of Monday bank holidays without an argument and an elaborate calculation.

yup

why did so many people choose to drop Fridays instead of Mondays

I never really got the hang of fridays.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, my first Friday off under my new 4 day contract.

To be fair it’s not a bad deal for my employer either as I bet I still get as much work done in 4 days as I currently do in 5.

I can purchase three more weeks of holiday a year, bringing the total to 5. I’ll probably do it in a year or two.

You only get 2 weeks as standard?

Two points

1) On your death bed – will you look back and remember the time spent in an office and the things you’ve owned (like a flash car) OR the experiences you’ve had, places you’ve been, people you’ve met, positive relationships with your family etc..

Maybe work, being something we spend so much time doing, can be massively rewarding and give a great number of experiences? Find a job you love, and never work another day of your life….

2) More you earn, the richer you die.

Or, the more you earn, the more you enable you and your family to have rich and varied experiences when doing them is a factor of cost.

It’s never so black and white.

Currently doing a 50hr + week in 5 days, plus setting off at 3am Monday mornings and getting home at 8pm Friday – actually last week was 70 hrs as I didn’t go home. Currently on day 10 of 12.

Er, 50 hours a week is hardly caning it. And neither’s 70 come to that. Once you’re above 100 hours a week, then you can start bleating.

Yes, I’ve done my fair share of this. No, I don’t think it’s sensible to arrive in work on a Monday and not leave until Wednesday….

4.5 days here, Nobody here works a “full” Friday, I typically only have to do a couple to make my contracted hours (Staff) and I often bank a few hours of TOIL… I like being gone by Lunch time, I don’t think I’ve not worked a Friday afternoon in at least 18 months…

I have thought about trying to get agreement for me to do a 37-40 hour 4 day week and drop Fridays all together, quite a few seem to be doing this unofficially with verbal agreement from line managers, any Contractors are simply required to do the hours, working whatever pattern they choose…

A lot of the people doing 4 day weeks tend to be older, close to retirement, seems odd but the long hours, “presentism” culture seems to apply mostly to the under 55s and probably peaks a bit in the 25-40ish age range…

The only thing is at present I’m normally early in away by 17:15 at the latest and home for 18:00hrs and get to put the kids to bed, read stories, etc, and catch up with my missus (Who works Mon/Wed/Fridays) extending my Mon-Friday working hours Could possibly impact the routine at home in the evenings or just mean a silly early start which would just mean I’m always grumpy, sort of negating the benefit…

I’m sure plenty of people have thought about this, but I wonder why, when manufacturing etc has adopted innovative shift patterns, office based working persists with a 9-5 culture and struggles to adopt flexible working on a wholesale basis.

I’m sure plenty of people have thought about this, but I wonder why, when manufacturing etc has adopted innovative shift patterns, office based working persists with a 9-5 culture and struggles to adopt flexible working on a wholesale basis.

Manufacturing, by definition produces something, be it chainrings, televisions, cars etc. – often beneficial to have the machines running 24/7 with crazy shifts, you’re just lumping out units of stuff (no offence to anyone in manufacturing).

In an office environment you’re often needing to talk to/coordinate with other people so a more standard set of hours is beneficial. It’s starting to get crazy at our place – ‘A’ doesn’t work Mondays, ‘B’ doesn’t do Wed afternoons or Friday mornings, half rock in at 10, the other half leave at four, plus half the staff are on India working hours – actually arranging a meeting for more than a couple of people starts getting tricky.

Ourmaninthenorth…

You are correct about it never being black and white – however, if you have internalised the logic of the system..through your socialisation of societal norms..norms which are based on capatalist ideologies and spread pernicously through the neo-liberalist agenda of the politicians (and most powerful of society)…then your perceptions of what is possible is skewed towards the agenda you have internalised..you do not know what a more positive alternative reality could be and how MORE rewarding it could be (compared to the logic that work is rewarding your life..

actually arranging a meeting for more than a couple of people starts getting tricky.

never mind the fact that meetings with more than a couple of people in are invariably a massive waste of everyones time…

To pay for a shiny truck that no-one else is impressed by? let’s me do my job and also doubles as a family car.

Your awesome, are you related to surf-Matt?

If my intention was to impress, then I’d pick a different forum to this one.

You are annoying and seem to like picking at my posts, are you related to DJGlover?

TheArtist, i’m 51 now, paid my dues, done the 70+ hours a week, paid my mortgage off twice, you sound bitter and jealous,  
I’m Knocking it on the head in two years time, moving to Wales to ride the trails, lifes too short. 

My apologies – you sounded like you cared not that your wife was the breadwinner and you were happy to lounge around. Not bitter, or jealous – fair do’s to anyone that’s got themselves to that position in life!

Er, 50 hours a week is hardly caning it. And neither’s 70 come to that. Once you’re above 100 hours a week, then you can start bleating.

Yes, I’ve done my fair share of this. No, I don’t think it’s sensible to arrive in work on a Monday and not leave until Wednesday….

And I’ve done 3 day shifts too. Wasn’t bleating, just a response to the 36 her weeks.

I choose to do what I do – for now. I also choose to work in my shop on a Saturday. I’m self employed, so can do as many days a week as I want. I had a bit of of a downturn in work in the summer and sitting around didn’t suit me. I like my playtime too, just for the record!

We are all different….

Well anyway….

My application to do 4 days a week has gone through, and the missus has got a 3.5 day per week job, so we’re both happy. Saving and will have about 20k for a deposit on a house in around May next year. Turned out nice!

Nice 🙂

My application to get a temporary reduction from 37-35 hours a week while MrsMC has a temporary increase (so I can cover the school run 2 days a week) has been completely ignored.

They have 23 days to reply – under their own guidelines – at which point I might see if they take more notice of their Grievance procedures.

In the meantime, I am running around like a headless chicken to juggle it all, getting increasingly pissy with colleagues in the office and, according to the optician who took a photo of the inside of my eye last week, I need to see the doctor about my blood pressure.

Really starting to feel sympathy for that guy in the “Falling Down” documentary a few years back.