If you WFH, what's your Friday afternoon like?

Do those posters never give a thought to our emergency service/retail or other people who don’t work from home? It’s not very nice to gloat tbh and some posters are nasty with it. There really is no need.

Other people's working hours have absolutely nothing to do with me 🤷‍♀️

I did a decade in retail and didn't expect anyone to "give a thought" to me while I worked Boxing Day or Sunday or yet another bank holiday. Why would they?

The fact that some people are able to take half days on a Friday or go swimming on a Tuesday morning has nothing to do with the emergency services or the fact that Jane in Tesco can't just take a nap on the checkouts.

Generally, by Friday afternoon I'm relaxing and keeping one eye on emails.

This week has been really full-on for me as well though, and I was working right up till 5. My work does tend to ebb and flow, so I don't mind so much as I've been much less busy over the past few weeks.

I wish I didn't work for a US company. They always get in touch with some last minute fire drill ll at lunchtime their time, so 5pm, and I then have to hop on it until about 6.30. next week they've booked a meeting until 7. Guess they do pay me a lot for this crap.

You are proving why businesses want you back in the office!

I think a LOT of the replies on this thread have been made to be goady tbh. Admin staff having to work while the “professionals” swan off for lunch with husbands and the rest of the team having the afternoon off, glasses of wine at 12pm, going swimming in work time etc etc. Some people must have a real alcohol problem drinking at 12 noon on a Friday…

I’ve noticed there’s been a few WFH threads recently. Do those posters never give a thought to our emergency service/retail or other people who don’t work from home? It’s not very nice to gloat tbh and some posters are nasty with it. There really is no need.

Oh and b4 there's a pile on, i work long hours in busy season. We get our summer fridays for a reason, we're in a cyclical business, they give us this time because we earn it other times of year.

WFH Fridays, busy week as always. In b2b meetings 9am until 4pm (grabbed jaffa cakes to eat for my lunch). Logged off at 9pm, still not on top of everything so I'll probably log on during the weekend.

My work has a summer friday rule where everyone finishes early on fridays in summer. Ive worked at three different companies and they've all had this so i think it's not that unusual.

So yeah friday is a bit of a light day because of this.

Poor admin!

Oh the places I have opened a laptop. On a kerb outside a pub. In the dentists waiting room. Restaurant tables obviously, that’s quite civilised. A field once as I had a day off and we went on a day trip to Sheppey

Finish by 12 and have a glass of wine

It's the worst day for me as I'm sort of last in the chain. People finally get their arse in gear, frantically send me the work they should have done all week then bugger off early while I'm left actioning the stuff past 'home time'.

@SocoBateVira exactly - there's no logic to the ranting, just outright jealousy that not everyone has to work until 6pm on a Friday evening.

People always say I work great hours but they forget that it means being out in all weathers, all year round no matter what. It means no sick or holiday pay (self-employed), it means coming home in bruises and insect bites, sore feet and muscles etc.

They want the perks but not the actual work that comes with it 😂

I WFH most of the time.

I try to avoid meetings on Friday afternoons but sometimes that's the only time available, to catch up with my line manager or a colleague.

When I can I spend Friday afternoon thinking, planning and preparing for the following week, reviewing my to do list, tidying up my emails etc. I will sometimes put my out of office on to avoid interruptions. It's a steadier day but still productive.

It amuses me that teachers often come on these threads to kick off when they have had years of people thinking they have the cushiest job of all time. Surely. You'd think theyd be more understanding of the realities?

Yes some people take the piss. Some people take the piss in the office too.

Dh works from home 2/3 days a week. Sometimes he'll take the car to the garage or pick the kids up or do some food shopping during the working day. However also he regularly has to travel to Asia and South America for a week or more at a time and doesn't get paid any more for it or time in lieu.

My job is full time wfh but it is hourly paid so I wouldn't do non work things during the work day without making up the hours (eg a doctors appointment). But then if i do extra hours like working in the evening or on a Monday which is usually my day off then I get that time back so it's balanced. Also, I work for a charity and it would be just abhorrent to take the piss.

Yes! This has been me far too many times! I am in a reactive area and things always kick off at the worst times, kids birthday? DH away with work and the DC need ferrying from club to club? Visitors coming over? Always a guarantee that is when something will happen. I’ve sat in my car, or in random cafes near the DC’s clubs and on the weird tier seating at swimming while working far too many times. I remember sitting trying to get my toddler (at the time) to sleep but annoying them with the tap tap on the keyboards because I was still having to work.

If I can finish early on a Friday using flexible working when I am quiet then I bloody well will because there is no guarantee I will get to do it every week.

this.
Friday afternoons always used to be sit around and chat watching the clock when I was in an office. I almost definitely do more now wfh, even if not at full productivity.

Also if you're a manager who bases your work policies off stalking MN comments from anonymous posters who probably don't work in your job, or even your sector...then you're a pretty shit manager.

Can you imagine it taking it to HR - I think we should stop flexible working.
Really, why is that Bob, is productivity down?
No, according to the stats productivity is stable and staff satisfaction is higher, but I read online someone called @oldpine was taking it easy on a Friday so...

Friday is my work from home day. I usually don’t have to many meetings and it is usually taken up with phone calls - people catching up on the week and resolving issues.

Friday are usually ‘meeting light’ in my industry - it is a slightly more informal day - but it means a lot more one on calls as it is easier to catch people.

I finished at about 6:30 - but the day was lower stress than the rest of the week.

And those who quite clearly don't understand the concept either, but don't allow that to stop them making multiple posts on the issue.

Fridays are my busiest day but I still manage to walk the dog and do some laundry on a Friday afternoon.

I like to get the house vaguely tidy for the weekend, and usually start thinking about weekend food, too.

Does nobody else have the thing where you spend most of Friday like ‘ah, it’s chill, everything is nice, maybe I’ll stop around 4 or 5 and make a nice dinner’ and then BANG ON 4 or 5 everything royally kicks off and you’re apologising to your friends and family when you don’t make dinner and spend most of the dinner someone else made for you on the phone or on your computer, then eventually emerge about 8:30 or 9 to discover everyone you love finds you deeply annoying?

that’s why, when that doesn’t happen, I’ll happily potter around a bit on a Friday. The rest of the week is fucked and half the weekends are fucked and a lot of Friday nights are fucked, I’ll take a bit of slack wherever I find it.

It’s not at all the same as mandated hours and I don’t think that’s fun either, but a job where you don’t get to ever properly drop it…. Has its own issues

To be fair to @MartyFunkhouser I think they may have meant, apart from doing admin work, they dont mind staff winding down on Fridays.

But I possibly am the only person that read it as such…

I was working until 6 and feeling stressed that I hadn’t completed all the stuff I hoped to have completed this week.

I am lowly admin staff

@Jeannie88 but not all WFH jobs are like that
I am "on" for the whole time I'm working, and have to account for if I am making a cup of tea etc
My break and lunch is timed and I can't go over it. It's a busy stressful job and I'm mentally wiped by the end of the week
And yes I do know what stressful/physical work is having done it previously but mine is a brain mush kind of wiped now

I'm the only person from our department in on a Friday so sometimes it's manic. However we definitely get less external emails on a Friday so in that way it's quieter. Still work the normal hours though.