The working day should be 9-3, standard.

[Indecisivelurcher]

The working day should be 9-3. No need for wraparound childcare, which costs £'s and tires children out. More mothers can work. We will have time to look after our elderly, which is so important with aging global populations. With a shorter working day, we have time to pursue our own interests, hobbies and clubs. Time to exercise. Time to cook from scratch. We can keep fit and look after our wellbeing, reducing costs on the NHS. To get a good uptake, clubs should be heavily subsidised, but people will have time to volunteer too, to run the local clubs, to look after green spaces. Because we'll be spending more time outdoors, we'll value our green spaces more and want to look after them. We'll spend time in town centres and hang out in cafe's, instead of just grabbing a takeaway coffee. We will spend our money on local shops instead of online. We will be a community. Time is the key, not money.

With a shorter working day, we have time to pursue our own interests, hobbies and clubs. Time to exercise. Time to cook from scratch. We can keep fit and look after our wellbeing, reducing costs on the NHS.

True - but I suspect a lot of us would just have two extra hours in bed, surfing the net or watching TV. I'm not lazy, I have the time, I know how to cook and I like home-cooked food, but I rarely cook from scratch because I don't enjoy doing it. There are a lot of days when I feel quite aggrieved at having to be the one to get the oven chips and breaded fish fillets out of the freezer and bung them in the oven, then open a can of baked beans.

‘With a shorter working day, we have time to pursue our own interests, hobbies and clubs. Time to exercise. Time to cook from scratch. We can keep fit and look after our wellbeing, reducing costs on the NHS.’

My interest is my job. I adore it. So fucked off at generalisations in the last few months that we’re all bored shitless in office jobs we hate. My career is a massive part of my identity. I’ve slogged my ass off to get to do it as my main job. I don’t want time off... I want fair , affordable childcare options that enable me to do a full days work and come out better off than the day before . I’m self employed.

If your work means you can change to 9-3 or drop a day with no ill effects, it probably isn't essential work

There is a qualitative difference between physical work, which requires physical presence and to a point, impact and time spent working have a linear positive relationship, and knowledge work, which does not require physical presence and where impact and time spent working is more complexly related. Innovation, collaboration, better solutions may be facilitated by shorter working hours than 40+ a week, and long hours deliver sharply diminishing returns.

There's also essential work without which society would very quickly break down, and essential work without which we would not feel the impact for years, but would all as a society end up worse off. Scientific research, for instance - we don't immediately feel the impact if we cut down on Cancer research, but we'll be damned sorry as a society in ten years' time. How do you measure the impact of the breakthrough we never made, or the brilliant game-changing idea we never had because the right people never talked to each other? Even jobs not nearly as noble as scientific research have use; that's why they get paid for, and they contribute to our prosperity as a country hugely.

I think a four-day working week has a lot of potential for many jobs and has been shown to involve no drops to productivity and even increases in many knowledge-based job. I expect a fully paid 4-day week to grow as a trend.

What about all the places you go in the evenings? What you mean is people with cushy office jobs, not the working week. Next time you call your insurance company about your renewal at 7.30pn remember this post. Yabu

There are jobs working 9-3 though. There's nothing stopping anyone for applying for them.
It's also only 30 hours a week, so people would be losing about a days income.
You'd never be able to go shopping if all the staff finished at 3pm. What about restaurants and pubs, theatres, etc.
What are we all supposed to do after 3pm when everything would be shut.

With a shorter working day, we have time to pursue our own interests, hobbies and clubs. Time to exercise. Time to cook from scratch. We can keep fit and look after our wellbeing, reducing costs on the NHS.

Yes, but only if finances allow it, very few people can afford to reduce their household income.

I work four days a week, I don’t work Fridays, I dropped it so my son would only be in nursery four days a week. He started reception in September and I decided to remain on four days as it meant he wouldn’t have to go to after school club on Fridays.

On Friday in normal times I would go for a run, go to the gym, play piano and game a bit until school pick up. I do have time for all of those things in the evening, I just sometimes choose not to. People absolutely do not need to work part time to have hobbies, keep fit etc. I’m also a rugby player, this a second career I have maintained as both a full and part time worker.

Whilst it is a good idea, @Indecisivelurcher, I don't think your standard 9-3 working day is going to work. I think there are far too many jobs which cannot be done on that basis - nursing, for example tends to be a 24/7 job, as do policing, fire brigades, paramedic response etc. And there are others where such a short working day would make projects take far too long - construction, road haulage, transport etc. If the refuse collectors aren't working their current hours, the bins aren't going to get emptied as often, because they'll only have time for half their round.

Plus, if everyone is working 9-3, when are any of the workers going to do their shopping - because all of the shops will be shutting at 3pm too.

Sorry.

The hours that I’m most productive in are probably 2-7pm so my company wouldn’t be getting the most out of me.

YABU for assuming the world needs to revolve around family life and children.

I'd be happier if my working day was midday- 8pm. I hate mornings and by the time I hit my peak, everyone else is winding down and getting to the end of the day. I think older kids would be happier with a later start and finish for schools too!

It would be great to have a two shift system. I wouldn't mind my whole family waking up late and having school and work in the afternoon/eve. For morning birds it would be great the opposite way. I always miss my peak productivity as a bit of a night owl. Then if people needed to they could have two shifts and work a long day too.

I just think generally we need to have greater flexibility and a focus away from presentism

9 is too early. Can I have 11-5? That way, when the old normal happens I can go to the pub after work and grab a take-away on the way home. Then sleep in the next morning.

I love that idea!!! YANBU

Absolutely! Or 9-5 but a 4 day week a standard but that's less preferable.

That sounds like my life OP. I work even shorter hours 9.30 - 2.30 , designed many years ago around school runs, then caring for my elderly parents . And now walking my dog and spending time in the garden

Obviously though working part time hours means part time money and has only been possible for us as we have low outgoings (cheap housing , car costs etc)