What’s your ideal 40-hour work week?
Do “ideal” and “40-hour work week” belong in the same sentence?
If you had to work 40 hours in an office each week, what would your ideal work schedule be? Five 8-hour days? Four 10-hour days with one day off? A two week schedule with eight 9-hours days, one 8-hour day, and one day off? Something else?
Loading ...I only ask because in my office, we have what is called an “Alternate Work Schedule” (AWS) – basically, option C. I work mostly 9-hour days then get every other Friday off.
I was talking to a new employee in the elevator yesterday and asked if she was all signed up for AWS*. She told me people keep preaching it to her, but she can’t imagine staying an extra hour at work. She listed all the things she wanted to do each day – walk the dog in the morning, make her brother dinner at night, work out, etc.
Hmm.
For about a year, Steven has suggested that I switch back to five 8-hour days, because I am so tired. The logic is, I get home an hour earlier, or get to sleep in an hour (and lose my every-other 3-day weekend**).
The thing is, I used to work five “8-hour days” at my last job, and was just as tired. It’s the freaking commute. More and more, I am thinking we HAVE to move closer to the city***. Someday. Before I lose my mind.
I look forward to when I get to participate in the work from home (one day a week) program. Until then…
What kind of work schedule would you follow if you were in control? Does your office offer something similar? Do you have flexible arrival and work from home days?
*We love acronyms where I work.
**Which is especially awesome in the summer.
***But I really want to stay in Lake County.
Themocracy
Some of the jobs I’m applying for offer flex scheduling, although it all seems to be some variation on the 8-hour work day. Like I would ideally work 7-3 and then have a totally open afternoon and evening. That’s MUCH better than 9-5, IMO.
I have a flexible schedule (I need to get 80 hours in 2-weeks time but only need to be at work on any given day between 9:30 and 3) and I really enjoy it. I usually work 8.5 hour days 5 days a week and I earn “credit” or comp time for anything over 80 hours that I get in a 2-week span. I think I’m eligible for AWS but I’d have set hours and I prefer having flex hours.
Oh- and I work from home once every 2 weeks. It’s a nice break from my commute. It takes me an hour from the moment I leave my house to the moment I sign in at work so I save 2 hours of my day by working from home.
Right now, we have it set up where I (and another girl that does almost the same job as me). We alternate early and late shifts: either 7:30-4:30 or 9-6. It’s kind of nice because I get a little bit of both worlds- getting to sleep in and then getting extra time in the evenings. I love it!
Probably not gonna want my input, but I’m luck enough to work from home, all the time. My traffic jam is getting everyone out the door to start my day, colliding as we hit the washroom or in the hallways.
Right now, I work a regular 8-hour day/40-hours a week. Occasionally, I work from home, though it’s usually last minute if I don’t feel like going in, or if I plan it a day or two in advance to work on a project. I’ve been thinking about doing the 9-hour days with every other Friday off, because I think I really need the extra time away from work. I also have the option of dropping to 32-hours per week (75%) and having three days off every week, but I don’t think I really want to do that–I’d lose income! I’ve ALSO thought about working 10 fours, but I honestly think I’d lose my mind if I had to stay at the office that long every day. As it is, I have a hard time getting in before 9 AM. My commute is 15 minutes on side-streets; I feel very grateful to live in the city (Seattle–5-10 mins from downtown).
I think it’s fascinating that people still work a normal 8-hour day. I’ve been working 9-hour days (5 days a week) for years. And that’s less than what I used to work (10-12 hour days were the norm). So, to adjust my schedule now would be virtually impossible.
That said, I have found a way to adjust my schedule … not in how many days a week I work … but, in how many days a week I work from the office versus from home. Being able to work at home a couple days each week has done wonders to my life.
Also, Sweets used to work three 12-hour shifts per week and then have 4 days off. Now, he works a more normal 7:00-3:30 schedule. And without a doubt, he’d pick the shorter day over the longer day. I think he’d say there comes a point when it’s just hard to focus and you lose out on productivity.
If you worked regular 8 hour days would you actually only work 8 hours or would you end up working extra and just not getting an extra day off anymore? I only ask because my husband works crazy long hours and if they gave him that choice, he would work way more than he was supposed to no matter what so getting a day off would actually be more beneficial to us (as a family).
The commute sucks, you are right, but I hope you don’t ever move! But that’s just me being selfish. I suppose we would still be able to get together even if you did move.
To me none of the options sound good. I always feel so trapped when I have set hours like that. Not that I would be doing something else at that time, but knowing I had to be somewhere for set hours would stress me out. This is why I think if I ever get a real outside of the house job again it will take major adjusting! I do have set hours for the home daycare but for some reason don’t feel as trapped with that. I guess because I know that even though I have the kids for certain hours, we have freedom to choose what we do in those hours (for the most part…pesky school getting in the way sometimes!)
If you had an option for sleep in and get home early every day that is what I’d choose. Does that make me lazy? Or maybe just tired.
I want that option too 😉 That is not the lazy option! That is the “I want to feel good” option.
Knowing me, I would leave after my 8-hour shift. BUT, I would be losing 3+ hours a week to the commute anyway (on that extra day), so would it be worth it? I don’t think so… 😉
Believe me, I hate being stuck in an office, especially on gorgeous summer days!
I’d go with the alternating two-week schedule… I kind of do that already anyway, because I have to arrive early to make up for the time I miss by leaving early to go to class. Which is something I shouldn’t have to do, considering I’m going to school to help me do my job, but whatever.
<3 <3
I would love an alternate schedule, especially given that I have two jobs. Having a 3 day weekend every other week would help me still have free time AND get my building chores done. I’d devote that day to apartment management maintenance. Hmm, now I am thinking about this! Though my work is not keen on shaking things up. They think once one person asks for an alternate schedule, everyone will and there will be mutiny.
Ask for it! It really helps with morale, imo.
best thing i EVER did= killing my commute. i live 2 miles from work. luckily i had that flexibility to find a home wherever i wanted to pretty much. and same with elliot. it just worked out. elliot has a “commute” but it’s by “express bus” so it’s only 30 minutes and he uses the time to read which is something he wants to spend more time doing anyway. also living so close allows me to go home anytime i want/need to. i voted for having a day off every other week!!! that’s so cool!
I have a friend who has the alternate work schedule, and that sounds ideal to me. Even though my job is technically 8 hours a day, I often work 9-10 anyway, so it would be nice to just have Fridays off. I really love 3-day weekends because 2 days seems too short! I end up getting stressed out trying to fit everything into weekends, ya know? Personally, I think the 8-hours-a-day/5-days-a-week thing is really archaic. There are days when I could work 4 hours and get everything done, and there are days I work 10 hours to get everything done. I think there should be more employer trust, and employee accountability, without set/absolute hours.
That is the thing – at my old job, I worked the same amount of hours but didn’t get that day off! I wish employers were more cool with flexible schedules. Someday…?
I am torn. I work 4-10’s and I feel like I have NO TIME! I work 7-5:30 with a 30 minute lunch (which I work thru anyways), and I have Fridays off. By Thursday driving home, it takes everything in me to stay awake. And I don’t have kids, and I sleep 7-8 hours a night, most nights. I do have a 45-minute commute each way, so I “save” 90 minutes a week by not working a 5th day. But Friday is like 100% make-up time. And Monday thru Thursday I DREAD anything after work. I have a hockey game and a chiropractor appointment tomorrow, and I’m grumpy about it! I get about 30 minutes an evening after dinner, etc. and it’s just not enough! Basically, I want to work part-time, but I guess I do prefer the 4-10’s with a long commute. If I didn’t have a long commute, I’d want to work 5 days a week, I think…during the winter, anyways.
We are totally in the same boat. I want to do NOTHING when I get home because I am so spent. Then I am running around like crazy on my days off. It’s too bad we cannot just work from home all the time! Or a few days a week. It is the commute that is killer!
i would love to work 4 tens……3 day weekends are the best!
I love exactly what I have now — a 9-to-5 with a paid lunch and about a 10-minute roundtrip commute. I know how lucky I am so I’m running with it until I can’t run with it anymore. I’m still tired, though, because now I stay up too late for no reason thinking I don’t really have to get up early … but it turns out I still do need eight hours of sleep every night.
I would love a flex schedule. I get one in the summer- we work 4 day weeks (only 8 hours still though!!) and can choose to work 7-3 or 8-4. On gym mornings I work 8-4 and non-gym mornings I work 7-3. And we do not work Fridays I really love it.
Obviously because I work in a school, during the year I am stuck to those 8-4 hours. With that said, 8-4 is most ideal. 7-3 would be okay but I have an hour commute and that gets old after a while. And I want to be out early, so I would never look for an 9-5.
I actually really liked my schedule at my old job. 8-4:30 M-F with the occasional three day weekend due to government holidays. The only thing I didn’t like is that there was zero flexibility. I could easily switch to 8:30 – 4:30 (instead of 9-5) now but it wouldn’t really get me anything due to the commute. I do miss my 15 minute commute!
When I worked a flex schedule I did 4 (9 hour days) and then 4 hours on Friday. It wasn’t good!
Though my company allows us to do CWS (compressed work schedule — we LOVE acronyms too…), my division doesn’t allow it 🙁 I used to love it when I worked in a different department, and had the same schedule you have.
But the 10 hour days with only a 4 day work week? I’d take that anytime if I was allowed to!
I used to work the 4 day week with Wednesdays off—I LOVED IT! Now that I work more like 50hrs it doesn’t really matter LOL
i voted for the 10-hr day w/a 3 day weekend, BUT that’s a little misleading… because right now, i nearly have that but get to work 8 hour days! i work from home on fridays, which is AMAZING. it’s like having a day off in terms of being able to do laundry, run errands, get my house in order, even catch up on dvr. i wish more companies would accept the work-from-home model. i spend less time online on fridays, because any down time between projects is used being productive in my personal life 😉
The government is really big on work from home… however, they explicitly say not to use it for chores! I bet everyone is. I feel more relaxed and can get more done when I work from home.
I would LOVE to have one day off a week. Similar to you, it’s the commute that really does it for me. I feel like once I’m at work, I’m in the zone, might as well continue for two hours. I think its better use of time all around.
We have a fix work schedule which really sucks. I like to be flexible and work longer days when I have no plans and leave the office early when I have an appointment or something.. I don’t think that there would be a perfect work week but I really like flexibility.
I work five 8.5 hour days. I like having a schedule and knowing exactly how much time I have always. Its easier for me. My IDEAL work schedule however was the one I had when I worked at the bank. 9:45 – 3:30? YES PLEASE! If it werent for the money I never would have given that up.
In the summer my company works the 10 hour days from July 4th to Labor day and I love it but its hard because I work from 7-530/6ish and then I am in bed by 930 or 10 (as the week goes on, it gets closer to 9 lol cause Im so tired). SO i would love to try the 9 hour days and get every other friday off! i think it would be great. Now I only have a 15-20 minute commute so it works out pretty well.
Honestly, most days I work at least 10 hours anyway without Friday off so I’d much rather do the 10 hours 4 days and then be done. Who cares about my week when I can have a 3 day weekend? I’d be tired no matter what like you said so I’d stick with your schedule if I were you.
Ah the advantages of being self-employed! I am not a 9 to 5, 40 hours a week kind of woman 🙂 Fridays are always off!
I’d really rather not have to work at all.. but if I must pick, I think I would take the five 8 hour days. Or the four 10 hour days.. as long as I like my job.
When I was in the corporate world (please don’t make me ever go back) my schedule was very rigid: 5 8 hr. days (8a-5p)with an hour for lunch. Except it was the ‘unspoken rule’ that we actually got in at 7a and stayed til at least 6p. 1/2 day on Sat if we were really busy. It was a tough existence.
Yikes! That would have burned me out REAL fast. At my last job, they would actually tell us to put in more hours, but never compensate us for it… or thank us for it. I like that where I work now overtime is basically forbidden.
I thrive on something muuuuuuch more flexible. Like out of the office, A LOT!
Ha, I don’t know what I’d prefer, and I don’t want to share an opinion since I’ve never had a “real” job. I’m sure I’d find a reason to complain about any schedule, no matter what the organization!
A few things about me:
1. I work from home every other week
2. I don’t have set hours
3. I voted for 4×10.
I honestly wanted to vote for “other” and then describe that i’d do 12 hrs a day – because I do that pretty often in my normal job so I might as well get a bunch of days “off” as a reward. But, then I thought that having every friday would be pretty sweet too.
I voted for 4 days of 10 hours…but mind you, I’ve never worked that before! The day off sounds nice, but I can also see how those longer days during the week would drag. My commute isn’t horrible (about 20-30 minutes), but I can see how my feelings would change if it were any longer!
I hope you can do the one day/week at home program soon! That sounds wonderful. I work one day/week at an alternate office that is only 10 minutes from my house, and it is lovely. It’s amazing how much *&%^ you can put up with if you have one day that is an easier commute/no commute at all.
Hey, I just noticed that you have a new title bar. Looks good! Really cool picture w/ the hubs. (and no ‘ahem’ protrusions either!…not that I checked….)
Thanks!
Ha, if it would not have been so hot (for Wisconsin) you would have seen them 😉
My place of previous employment did 4×9 hours with every Friday as a half day. I really liked it in that by the time you were done and back home on Friday, it felt like you’d never really gone into work at all – but if you had a long commute I’d imagine that it would feel like a burden to go in for that short of a time.
I think a big part of how the hours at work feel for you, is how the specific hours are enforced too. While we officially had ‘flexible’ hours for arrival and departure, if there was a deviation of more than 10 minutes within your day (ie. started lunch late, tried to end lunch early to leave early, etc) it was a major deal and had to be approved. When you have to be so specifically watched and documented, especially in a professional workplace, I feel like it’s just demoralizing.
That is how I felt at my last job. Even if I came in early, I was expected to stay late. And it didn’t seem appropriate for the environment. Now, I have flex time, and love it. Yesterday I was tired so I came in at 8:00. Today I am coming in at 7:00!
I pretty much already work 10 hours days. Working 4 of those and getting a 3 day weekend every week would be nice.
Um, I would NOT work 3-11pm!!! Anything would be better! As a nurse, I think 3 12’s would be amazing, although those three days are a wash, but four days off a week would be amazing! I can’t speak for “office hours” at all, although I’m jealous of people who have “flex time” and work like 7-3/4. That would be awesome. 🙂 Anyway to get an extra day off would be fine with me…as long as any schedule that allows for some sort of social life.
Friends are nice.
What does it take to be a nurse that gets to work during the day? Is it a seniority thing?
I am learning friends as nice to have too. Especially running friends!
I actually work 5x 7hr days right now and that’s my main job, plus I used to sub at least 6 days a month adding on about 18 hrs a month. I have three more weeks left of this, then I’m doing a 3.5 day work week through the summer. I’m not sure what my fall will end up as, but if I was going to work a 40 hr week again, I’d love a 4 day week with 10 hr days. It’s rough, but I can do it.