Which of these hours would you rather work?

[CrispyCrunchleaves]

I’ve been given the opportunity to choose my working hours. I’m struggling to choose what to go for.
The options are: 6am to 2pm or 8am to 4pm
I have childcare planned for both.
The early one is tempting but do I really want to get up that early? I’ll possibly be tired for the rest of the day. It does mean I get a small window before school pick up.
The later one seems more ‘normal’ but will mean I spend the best part of the day in work, will have to battle with traffic. Also the moment I get home the evening chores will start.

please let me know what you would prefer to help me decide.

I’d personally go for the 6-2 but I am more of a morning person so the little window before the school run would be where I’d get some stuff done x

6am -2pm

The early shift so you can do school pick up. The later one means you miss both drop off and pick up and you will hit more traffic.

Also 6 till 2 dependant on how far away it is.

It depends on how close it is and how fast you get ready in the morning. 6-2 gives you more of the day and is OK if you don’t need to get up until 5/5.15. Any earlier and yes, that’s tough, especially in the winter. However you would be home in daylight.

6-2 as 8-4 you’ll miss both school drop off and pick up.

Definitely 6am to 2pm. You will possibly be tired for a few days but you can adjust your bedtime accordingly. I’d love those hours!

I would do 6-2. I’m a morning person and would rather get it done and dusted and have the evening. Even if your not naturally a morning person you will adjust in time and even though it’s the same amount of hours I feel for me psychologically it would feel like I had more down time, especially as you will get an hour or so alone before the school run.

What time would you be up for the earlier hours? I'd probably do those.

I'm not a morning person and don't think I could long-term be at work for 6am every day. So 8-4 for me.

6-2 though if you are more of a morning person

6-2. When I worked in retail, this shift was the most popular and only filled by people who'd been doing it for years and years because they refused to give it up. There was outrage when the company tried to move people onto 7-3.

6-2, you'll be available for school pick up and after school things.

What does the childcare for both look like? If for 6-2 it means getting the kids up, ready and dropped to someone to be at work for 6 then that would be an absolute no for me.

If they can stay in bed and someone in your house gets them ready and drops them off, then I’d go for 6-2.

Nicer for the kids to have you doing a pickup every day, and that 2-3 time is going to mean you can much more easily run errands without the kids which will make life a lot easier!

Well I'd prefer 8-4, because I'm not a morning person, but if you are I'd go for the earlier ones.

I’m not a morning person at all BUT I’d go for 6-2 in a heartbeat.

You’d be up and out before anyone else was awake (probably), you’d miss the worse traffic there and back, have time for a cuppa and relax on your own afterwards and you can do the school pick up. It’ll still be light after work in the winter, and in the summer you’ll feel like you’ve got a lot more day left.

8-4 and you’d spend a lot of time in traffic, still have to be up quite early and miss both school runs. It’ll be dark or almost dark when you get home in winter and your ‘down time’ would feel a lot less.

Even I’d force myself out of bed for these hours!

I would be absolutely miserable working 6-2pm. I couldn’t do 5am starts or earlier if u got a commute. If o were having to pay for the kids to go to after school care then I would but that’s the only reason!

Logistically 6-2 is better but I personally feel sick all day if I get up before 7am, I think a regular 5am alarm would kill me 😅 but if I was the kind of person who wakes up at 6am naturally then it wouldn't be too much of an adjustment.

I'd definitely do 8-4. I need my sleep and starting at 6 means getting up by at least 5. For me, that means going to bed by 9. I'd rather have a bit more evening.

I’m quite a morning person. My worry for the 6-2 is that as I’ll be getting up so early, I will be tired by 5 and still have list of chores to do. Also I forgot to mention it would mean going to bed two hours earlier so my evening will be cut short.

I'm a morning person but would still prefer 8-4, it means I'm not forced awake to start work by an alarm and then go go go.
Starting that bit later means you wake up a bit more naturally and can potter about getting things done before you start work.
I did a 2am til 10am shift for a while, thinking I'd have the whole day to myself, nope I was absolutely shattered then had the horrible pressure of getting to bed early enough to get enough sleep, almost killed me!

6-2. My workplace has flexible hours and most people choose to come in around 6. I'm not a morning person but even I've learnt to like it better, and usually come in 5:30. Its so nice to have time in the afternoon, don't have to take time off for appointments if you can get them in the afternoon, can go swimming after work when the pool is pretty quiet and mostly just retired people swimming, do the food shop when it's quieter, etc. etc.

I would do 8-4 but not pick the kids up from after school club immediately - would give myself a bit of breathing space to do a few quick chores/errands, have a cup of tea and pick them up at 5/5:30.

But I don't know what childcare you had in mind.

@swapsiclesthats what I’m afraid of. Being tricked into thinking I’ll have so much extra time doing the early. I will just end up shattered and longing to go to bed.

6 til 2. You get more of the day to do admin or whatever.

Could you change your routine so you get used to getting up at 5am everyday and go to bed earlier?

Then it will be the same every day if you see what I mean - 5 won't be "early", it will just be your normal wake up time.