Working 4 days / week - which day off?

[inneedofaholidaybigtime]

Wise mumsnetters, please help me work out what to ask for!

If you work 4 days per week when going back to work after maternity leave which day do you have off and why? What are the considerations when making the decision that I might not have thought of?

Secondary question: if you are also able to WFH one day per week which day would you work from home and why?

Thanks!

Are you looking at your own convenience or getting the job done most effectively? Depending on what type of role you’re in, Mondays are for team meetings and Fridays tend to be when shit hits the fan, so not them. It also means a longer response lag over the weekend. A midweek day off means least disruption.

I've tried both mondays and Fridays off and definitely prefer Mondays off. Better for holidays and childcare.

Wednesday’s off, house goes slightly wild on my work days, pull it round again with a break mid week.

I do 3 days and have weds/Fridays off. Due to switch to mon/weds off later in year.

Weds off is a good catch up/ moment to pause and allows you to get the house in order/ online shopping etc. If I could I would WFH on weds.

Friday is a great day off, who doesn't want the weekend starting earlier? Downside is it's a quieter day on the roads so you don't get that advantage not working it. Missing the Friday vibe at work. It is a day when the shit hits the fan though which is nice to avoid!

I'm sorta looking forward to my Friday- Monday swap. The Sunday night feeling is horrible!

Thanks ladies. A lot of fans of Mondays off here!

I work four days and have a Wednesday off - that way I only work twice before a break. It also means if I take a Tuesday off after a Bank Holiday I get a five day break using just one holiday day

One thing I haven't seen yet: if you're considering going back up to 5 days within a year, then think about which days are quieter at nursery so would be easier to add a day.

Have seen colleagues who wanted to up their hours (and work was willing) have to wait for a free slot in nursery to open up as their day off was full at nursery. Once you've got baby settled you won't want to change nursery for that and finding alternative childcare for one day is a pain.

If you chose monday, you would never work mondays, and should have extra days added on to your annual leave number to take when you want.

^^This. When I worked part time down to four days I chose Mondays as it avoided the "Sunday evening depression", I got to take my "bank holiday day" on another day and also a lot of my train commute problems seemed to happen on a Monday so I avoided those too.

However I was flexible so if there was something important for my team on Monday I'd work that day and take either the Tuesday or Friday off in the same week. It did also make me much more focused as I did not look at my work phone/emails on my non-working days. I also left a message on my email signature so people would get an "out of office" message to advise when they hear back from me and who else to contact in an emergency.

For working from home I'd choose a Friday (that was widely accepted in my department) and usually used the time I would have used commuting to working instead. That also meant I spent time with my elderly mother (I usually WFH from her house on Fridays) so I could keep her company and do stuff for her also that day or the Saturday before I went back to my own home.

I have wednesdays off. No more than two days working in a row ever, only have to prep two lunches and dinners in advance. Love it! Plus it's much quieter elsewhere than a mon and fri which everyone goes for first as a choice of day off.

I've had a Friday and a Monday

Friday is more relaxing and seems to extend the weekend but don't get that "Friday feeling"
Monday I start the week well and get much more done plus I don't get that "Sunday night" feeling
Longer weekend either way, so get to go away for weekends here and there, and actually relax more at weekends

If I got to choose again it would be Wednesdays though but I'd probably get nothing done and it would interrupt my "flow" at work, but then my I would never get as exhausted as I do. I'm in poor health and Wednesday is my most frequent day for absence, especially Wednesday afternoons (drag myself in but then sent home/have to leave early).

My stepsister takes a Wednesday off it seems to work well for them.

I used to have a Wednesday off and I found I would spend it being anxious that I hadn't done something or worrying about things.

I then had Monday's off instead. I had the bank holiday entitlement added on to my holiday allowance as it was in my contract

Mondays off rule. No Sunday night blues here

I had Mondays off for a while and to be honest i found I ended up leaving everything I could have done at the weekend with DH to Monday so Monday was spent clearing up, sorting clothes, changing any beds guests had slept in etc. When i went back to Fridays it was so relaxing. Getting ready for the weekend is much more fun than clearing up after it.

Definitely Monday. More annual leave!

I picked a Wednesday to WFH as have a 2 hour commute each way, and WFH on Wednesdays cuts the number of nights when i come home late then have to get up and go again the next morning from 4 to 2.

Monday always seemed to be a busy day at work, whereas Friday wasn't. But I had to take Tuesdays off, which was OK, as everything was open, there were fewer problems with childcare, as minders sometimes took long weekends as holidays. Obviously, I wasn't able to take long weekends, though.

I'd definitely take Monday off as first preference - and Fridays as my second, precisely because it meant I could have three days on, four days off, which seems a lot less like working really hard. And Bank Holidays are usually Monday or Friday.

Always work fewer days than shorter hours over five, though. Always. A day off is completely different to finishing early. I really hated that job for the work pattern alone.

I currently work 3 days which are Tues, Wed, Thurs and love having Monday’s and Fridays off. If I had to chose one, I’d chose Monday off any day. It’s SO NICE not panicking on a Sunday at everyone going back to school and work the next day, I can properly enjoy Sunday’s as a family day, knowing I have time to grocery shop, clean up the house etc for the week ahead.

Thanks good advice. I am very undecided about whether to go back 3 days or 4...