Which two weekdays would you choose not to work?

[Chooseabiscuit]

Flexible working request after maternity leave approved, working 3 days.

I’ve been offered Tuesday-Thursday, with Monday and Friday off. I am very pleased with Monday but I really did not want a Friday off as everyone has the Friday feeling anyway, it’s a nice atmosphere in the office, and anecdotally soft plays and baby groups are busiest on Friday- not to mention the supermarkets and shops.

DC will be doing a day with grandparents and 2 days childcare.

I had hoped for Monday and Tuesday off, or even Monday and Wednesday for a split week but this wasn’t an option.

It made me curious. If you could pick any two non working weekdays, what would they be?

I'd go for Monday and Friday so you can have 4 days off the 3 working. A very nice work life balance plus useful if you want a long weekend. Only problem is having Monday off it's sometimes a bank holiday anyway.

When I worked part time, I had Monday and Friday as non working days. It was the best combination for me.

When I went part-time before retiring from teaching I went for Wednesdays and Fridays. I kept Monday because those are public holidays.

Have the Monday as you will only get 3/5 annual leave and bank holidays and if you work Monday you have to take more days off for the bank holidays than you get so you have to use leave to cover them. If you are already off on the Monday you can use the leave when you want

Check how your workplace does BH and annual leave first. At mine you have them added to your allowance on a pro rata basis, then you have to take annual leave for them. So if you work Mondays and your workplace is closed on BH you end up using annual leave because you have to, rather than at a time you choose. Nurseries close on BH too if that is a factor.

i wfh Thurs/fri I love it!

Thursday and Friday. But I work in a school and the kids are tired and ratty by the end of the week. Much better to teach at the beginning!

Monday and Friday. School events with my kids tended to be on a Friday.
If you ever want a break away you can get away - this will work well once school starts. You can get away for 2 or 3 nights and still have time to get sorted before the "working week" commences.

Definitely Monday and Friday. You get a four day weekend every week!

When I went PT I used to work Wed-Fri but swapped to Mon-Weds. Honestly it's lovely to log off on Wednesday and know I'm done for the week.

We're all WFH now so the whole "Friday feeling" is irrelevant.

Personally I'd be thankful they agreed to your request and gave the option to have to two days consecutively. I'd hate to have my 3 working days broken up by a day off.

I’d like Mondays and Fridays. Because you can get everything sorted on a Friday ready for the weekend and really have quality family time. Then on the Monday you get a day to recover and potter from the weekend!

Also you can do weekends away without using AL!

Play groups etc are busiest on Fridays, but it's nice to meet your fellow parents on a Friday.

I only have a Monday off, and my two besties have Friday off. Every Friday afternoon would be a group brunch with the kids if we were all off together. Monday works better for me, but Friday has its advantages by being busy too. Monday can be a bit dead.

This! Can’t get my beauty or hair appointments for a Monday.
I’d still have Monday and Friday given the choice I think. Or two weekdays together.

I imagine if you have a young child your priorities might be different though so splitting the week might work better.

I used to work Monday - Wednesday which I liked. By Sunday I’d had enough of ds 😂 and by Wednesday I’d had enough of work!

I think Monday is a nice day to have off and it's nice to have two days in a row, so I'd have Monday and Tuesday if I could.

Sadly I've ended up with Thursday and Friday because of work requirements and childcare schedules.

Either way though, working part time 3 days is quite nice :)

I'd prefer Mondays and Tuesdays in your shoes, but if it has to be split, then Monday and another day. I work a four day week and have Monday off, and it is respected.

I have Mon and Fri off. Able to go on long weekend breaks without using annual leave. More mum friends also off on these days to do playdates/lunch with. Also my eldest is in school now and wraparound care not open on a Friday afternoon as not enough demand. I used to have Mon and Tues off. This made Wednesday mornings so stressful trying to catch up I ended up working Tues afternoons to be up to speed for Wednesday. Also as Fridays had less staff at work it was always harder to have annual leave on Fridays in summer time due to holiday cover etc

I think it depends if it’s a real time job where you go there, do the job and go home and the next time is a new day ( like retail), or one where work transfers from one day to the next ( like being an accountant). In the latter I would avoid working Fridays on a part time basis as it’s hard to get anyone to do anything and your time therefore ends up being really inefficient and things just drag on. You end up doing a 3 day job in 2 days. Then if you also don’t work Monday you don’t chase till Tuesday and often don’t get it till Wednesday.

Tbh I'd just be grateful I was offered flexible working, not feeling that I could pick and choose my days, it's business-dependent.

Agree. Definitely want consecutive days to feel the benefit of a shorter work week and long weekends. I love being off on Fridays and meeting friends or going away. M-W for me. But second choice would be T-Th.

I liked non-consecutive days so that the children never had more than 2 days on the trot in nursery. However I think Tue & Thu is too choppy and would avoid.

Mon & Thurs off is ideal for me..I liked working Fridays for exactly the reason you say, plus childcare is easier to find on Fridays and it was the easiest day for my husband to get off when we tag teamed.

In my office the deal was basically no one had Tuesdays off so that there was one day everyone could communicate, have team meetings etc. I think this worked well too. If there is a particular day for team catch ups etc, it's better to be in for them IMO.

I have Friday and Monday off. I love it. It’s great because if you go away for a weekend you don’t need to take annual leave.

I have Monday and Thursday off and really like it for a few reasons

• it lets you fully enjoy the weekend without having to spend sunday getting sorted for work monday/the monday dread
• I personally find working 2 days in a row with young kids is enough. I find the evening between 2 work days hard going.
• like you said, going to work on a Friday just feels softer. I don't find it an effort going back for that 1 day after being off thursday
• it works well for keeping on top of house work/washing etc
• It means I'm never out the office for more than 1 work day in a row so don't ever feel like there's loads to catch up on

I don’t work Mondays and Tuesdays- annoying as literally no one is ever off on Mondays but turned it into my getting jobs done day! Tuesday I may see a friend for lunch, you make it work for you- good luck

I would love to have Wednesdays off to break up the week and maybe Fridays for a long weekend. I weirdly like Mondays and also there are bank holidays on Mondays!