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?

If you drive, Wednesday

Friday. Mainly because DDs school would do these ‘events’ every term where you would go in and take your child home early (2pm) pain the bum with holiday. Also I would deep clean the house Friday morning and have the weekends free.

If I had no children I would say Thursday or a Tuesday as you can then bung a Friday/Monday in for really long weekends away.

Hmm, I wouldn’t want either of those. I would want it attached to a weekend so I could go away, but Fridays are quite a nice day to work. I choose Mondays 😂

Monday if you can.

People are already in the 'Friday mood' so not much gets done on a Friday and everyone is in a good mood.

Monday-everyone hates them. You won't get the Sunday blues either. Shops are quieter. Everything is quiet. Bliss

I used to have a Wednesday off when my boys were little and it worked well. They only had two days of nursery and then a break.

Wednesday,

breaks up the week and it’s good day to get things done. Plus most places are open. I have Mondays off and that’s not great because most cafes and restaurants in this area are shut. I always plan to meet up with friends for coffee but we struggle to find anywhere to go.

I find it really odd that the reasons on these threads never seem to focus on what would be best for your 1 year old. Surely Wednesday would be much better as only ever maximum two days at a time in childcare as opposed to 3/4 in a row. A nice break in the middle of the week to spend quality time with mum seems ideal.

@YaWeeFurryBastard good point, yet my little boy preferred nursery 4 days in a row because he was more settled and in routine. The first day back after the weekend was always a struggle. If I'd had Wednesday off then Thursday drop off would have also been a struggle.

I can see why you won’t choose a Monday but that would be my idea day! Fridays are the only day I commute into the office, it’s really quite on the trains/tube and hardly anyone is in the office so I can crack on quietly - I love going in on a Friday as it helps me start the weekend knowing I’ve ticked everything off my list. However in your situation I’d definitely choose a Friday, long weekends would benefit me massively!
I quite like my job and I think next year I will put in a flexible working request to have Mondays off because a 4 day week really appeals and I like working Fridays and don’t really feel the need to break up my week into smaller sections (like having a Wednesday off), I do a lot of project work and I think it would be annoying to other members of my team to have it stop midweek too.

Oh really? I have Wednesdays off and every third Friday off. That's what seems to happen in my area strangely.

I have a Wednesday, bloody love it, mid week weekend!

Might be to you, but it's why I like my Wednesdays off😕 what's relevant to me isn't to someone else. I meant more like going places with the child (I have a toddler so visit the same places that I assume OP will be). I'm not talking about overnight stays or anything, but more like theme parks, family outings places etc. You don't tend to want to go very far with a baby/toddler, but I like places to be less busy.

I have Wednesdays off. Can catch up on housework, exercise, help with homework
and clubs and working Fridays when people are more chilled is fine with me. Works well.

In the last I've done four day weeks with a Wednesday off and also a Friday.

Wednesday was good as it meant people knew I'd be back "tomorrow" so nothing became too urgent. But, I didn't feel the benefit of having a day "off" because I'd pack in the supermarket shop, laundry, cleaning and errands. I then began to resent my DH because I was doing all the running around and cleaning it felt to me like he was getting an easy ride! It also became a day when the kids would have friends over for tea or I would help out friends with ad-hoc childcare. I was knackered going back to work on Thursday!

Having Fridays off was wonderful. I still did everything I had done on a Wednesday but by the time I returned to work on a Monday I was properly recharged. And it was even better when there was a Bank Holiday!

Wednesday. I have different days off every week because I work shifts (nursing) but I like weeks where I only have to work 2 days before getting a day off....you get home from work tired after a long day and it feels good knowing you only have one more day till a break.

Does your job need you to review tenders? IME tender deadlines tend to be Fridays. When I was heavily involved in tender appraisal, I found Fridays to be impractical days off.

I havn't worked Mondays for about 10 years. I really like it, and I like working Fridays. They tend to be quite quiet and relaxed.

Yes, fair point. I’m at a totally different life stage and when my kids were little we wouldn’t have had the money to go away at weekend anyway so Wednesdays might have been better.

Now I have young adults and a Friday would be more useful to me as I work in a school and can’t choose holidays. If I want to visit my DS for the weekend during term time or go away for an anniversary or a big birthday or someone’s wedding it’s a pain to have to travel on a Friday night in rush hour.

I guess that’s the other thing to think about. What’s useful at one life stage won’t be at another, so how easy would it be to swap to a different day after a couple of years? OP has to consider whether she would be stuck with that day forever more.

I know you didn't suggest this but I think if I had a completely free choice I might go for a Thursday off: nice run of 3 days to get stuck into work including Monday so you don't feel like you miss out on anything at the start of the week; mini Friday feeling on a Wed then only 1 days to do. Everyone is in a good mood on a Friday so it's a nice day to work. Also, if you wanted a long weekend you could book a Friday off and have a super long one.

I have Wednesdays off. Breaks u the week nicely for me.

Definitely Fridays, great long weekend

I've done both Wednesday and Friday as my day off. Long weekend was good but ended up feeling like a normal weekend after a while, just longer (I know that makes no sense!). I loved Wednesdays as my day off. Broke the week up with two days on, one off, two days on, two off. Perfect! I'm waiting for my Wednesday request to go through at the moment as I'm dropping to four days again.

It's difficult to gauge. I work with 2+ and at this age it can actually end up being 2 difficult days of settling back into childcare rather than 1 day settling down and then 3 days of something familiar.

I like my Wednesday off but it did get raised by someone (not my boss) that it can make things difficult where we have multi day activities at work as I can’t easily commit to more than 2 days in a row. On the other hand, I find Mondays and Fridays to be the busiest days where it is helpful for me to be working to pick things up. On a personal note I love never being more than 2 days away from a full day with my DD. I was worried I would find it hard to switch off but I don’t at all. The change of pace is actually really refreshing.

DH has Tuesday off which doesn’t sound great but he gets an extra long weekend every time there’s a bank holiday.

Definitely take Wednesdays off!

You get to have a mid-week recharge, and can do some of the housework you may usually have to wait until the weekend to do.

I’ve had Wednesdays off for the last few years, and for me it worked brilliantly.

Wednesday definitely! Only ever got one more day before a day off.