Which day off work? Wednesday or Friday

[Cheesypizzaa]

I'm about to submit a flexible working request to reduce from full time to 4 days a week. For various reasons, I'd want the day off to be a Wednesday or Friday. Just can't decide which! Any thoughts?

I took a Friday off because I wanted a longer weekend. I was usually exhausted by then so it gave me lots of recovery time.

I'd go with the Wednesday. Nice little mid point to get caught up with washing and housework!! Breaks up the week nicely too :)

I'd pick Friday, otherwise Mondays would be Monday and Thursday would be second Monday 😂

Friday - long weekend every week!

Friday definitely!

I have Fridays off - love it.

Fridays at my place are super relaxed - never any meetings, loads of people off so you can just crack on with work. So from a workload perspective, take Wednesday off. However I see the appeal in a 3 day weekend.

Personally, if I had the full week to choose, I'd go Monday - then I don't have to worry about using some if my annual leave to cover the bank hols.

Friday. Much more flexible if you want a weekend away for a start and less pressure. You only need to start the week once!

Hmm I would be strategic about your workload and office culture. If your role is such that you are 100% on every day and have to go into office etc then Friday definitely as you get a long weekend! If your job is much more project based and flexible and no one is really working much on Fridays anyway, then I’m not sure id have this officially “off” as it seems like a waste. Would be better to have a proper working day off.

Friday - long weekend

I think Wednesday would break the week up nicely. I can see the attraction of Friday. My employer is very accommodating of flexible working requests, but to the point where so many people are now off on a Friday that to me it seriously impacts the running of the business. If other people already take Fridays off, you might have a better chance of them agreeing to Wednesday.

I would have Wednesday because of the bank holidays on Fridays you would have off anyway

Friday, definitely.

When I went PT after ML I took a Wednesday. More toddler activities were available that day plus my Manager knew I could answer a query the next day (Th) rather than having to wait three days (F, S, S). That made the difference to getting mine approved.

I went down to working 3 ( longer ) days to give me 2 days off , so had Fridays & Mondays off . Loved it .

Do you have kids? What ages? Will you have them home with you on your day off? For young ones I liked Wednesdays off as it meant you never had more than 2 days of anything in a row.

Also to consider - is it flexible? We almost never go for weekends away like I thought when I didn't work Fridays. If you did want to go away could you swap days as a one off? In which case I'd go with wednesdays off!

Wednesday. I know Friday seems better because of the long weekend but I actually found in the past Wednesday was great because you are only working two days before a break. I never got that Monday morning blues because I knew I’d have Wednesdays off. Plus I found Fridays were generally relaxed and everyone was getting into weekend mode. Also unless I was planning to do lots of long weekend trips to take advantage of the Friday I didn’t see the point.

Depends

If Fridays are really chill, not much happening, can nick off early....choose Wednesday

If Fridays are normal, nose to the grindstone working days, choose Friday

Got to be the Friday . I loved picking my kids up from school knowing we had the whole weekend together .

A while ago I agreed in principle to work 4 days with a Wednesday off. It didn't work out in the end but I think it would be brilliant.

For me, it depends on your reason for doing 4 days. If I didn't have DC at home and could use the weekends for short breaks, seeing friends etc then I'd have a Friday for long weekends. If it's more for catching up on stuff/childcare/having some time to yourself I'd have Wed.

Wednesday, break up the week,more toddler classes, catch up with the washing, I like the chilled atmosphere in the office on Fridays. Yes you get two Mondays- but you get two Fridays too!

Three consecutive days with a stubborn toddler can make for a very long weekend . . .

This is what makes me lean more towards a Wednesday. I always WFH Friday, no meetings, super chill. So does feel a bit of a waste. I feel like the company would rather me have a Friday off for this reason though!

I have one child, a one year old.

If it’s possible to choose a different day then Mondays are great to take off - as you still get a long weekend and can add the (pro-rata’d) bank holiday allowance to your annual leave.

Ooh that’s tricky. I can see the benefit of both. Probably Friday as you can switch off Thursday at 5(?) until Sunday night. A colleague does this though she leaves at Thursday lunchtime and it feels bizarre when she says ‘have a nice weekend’ whilst we’re still in the thick of it.

Are you allowed to specify which day? Just out of interest because at my work if anyone requested flexible working or to reduce hours the management see which day off fits best. I was given a Monday and actually loved it.