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 have Monday Tuesday off. I’d prefer Monday Friday. I know what you mean about a more relaxed Friday feeling though - things seem less urgent on a Friday! But also lots of weekends away and school events etc happen on a Friday.

Definitely Monday and Friday for me, and when I went down to 3 days a week those were the days I took off. It gave me a lovely long weekend, useful if we wanted to go away, and with most bank holidays being Monday or Friday I got to use those bank holiday leave hours (calculated pro rata) as additional annual leave when I wanted it.

I work Tuesday to Thursday, I love it.

I've had a few patterns.
-Worked 3 days with Mon & Fri off
-Worked compressed hours with Wednesday off
-Worked 4 days with Friday off.

Mon and Fri off was by far my favourite (aside from the financial impact!). More friends were off those days so I was more likely to be able to make plans, a 4 day weekend was useful if we were going away, I still accrued bank holidays so got an extra 6 or 7 days added to my annual leave allowance.

I hated having the Wednesday off - hardly anything was on, I couldn't properly switch off from work, it caused more disruption at work so Thursdays were normally extra busy.

I wouldn't want both of Monday and Friday off for the reasons you mention, a lot of places are closed on Mondays, and those that are open like retail parks can be weekend level busy, the same for Fridays.

In your case, I would ask for Thursday and Friday if you want 2 days together and can't have Tuesdays.

But there's pros and cons for all work patterns depending on your job and personal situation and preferences. Its likely there will have to be compromises whatever you choose.