Any advice on working a split week vs consecutive days?

[growltigersontheloose]

I work 3 days a week, currently consecutive days (Mon-Wed, 9-5ish). I'm umming and arring over changing my days to, for example, Tues, Wed, Friday. I was hoping people could share their experiences of working like this?

I've only been back at work since October after a year off on maternity leave, but I'm finding it tough. Every Monday morning feels like I've just come back from a holiday, every Wednesday home time feels like I haven't achieved enough plus I'm exhausted. Thursday is then a scrabble to catch up on all the home stuff that I haven't done since the weekend, with my baby in tow. So I basically feel like I'm being a crap employee and a crap mother. I wonder whether splitting the week would make it feel a bit more manageable.

I've just spent a bit of time reading other threads on here, which makes me feel reassured that it is normal to find it tough! Perhaps I just have to accept that feeling I'm not doing well enough is the norm for a bit, and it WILL get easier with time hopes

its rubbish either way ime.
not working Mondays is nice but you can feel swizzed by the bank holidays. Split days spreads the misery over a larger part of you week imho. get them all over and done with in one go.

I work 3 days, 2 together, day off, then back. I love it as I get a day off in the middle of my working week (as much as a day with toddler ever is) and I'm never away for more than a day so stuff doesn't pile up too badly in my absence. I still get a 3-day weekend - I think only reason to do 3 days together is if you go away a lot for weekends. Some of the people I work with do 3 days together, not a job share, and it"s a pain when invariably you need them at the start of their time off - they end up unofficially jobsharing.

I do a split week and prefer it as I cover more of the week.

A split week is good.I did 2 days, then 2 days off then the third day. Worked well for me.

Those of you who do a split week, do you find that you can relax on your middle day off without thinking about work the next day? Does it hang over you?
A friend suggested that it would feel like you had multiple Sunday nights but, since having the baby, all nights feel pretty much the same so I'm not too bothered about that! I guess you get 2 Fridays as well.

I found it was like having 2 weekends! Yes, I still thought about work, and had some work to do, but no different from how I felt at the weekend.

No not really unless I'm busy. The fact i only ever have two days maximum at work is lovely!

I work Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I love it. I don't have time to give work much of a second thought during my days off with a toddler and housework. I do read emails but don't generally reply.
I like having 2 weekends so to speak. I did three days in a row when I first went back and found that more tiring.
I also don't seem to miss so much due to my dd being ill. If she is ill on a Monday I may miss 2 days but usually can get dh to take one and she is often well by the time I'm in on Friday. If she gets sick on a Tuesday she is often better by the Friday etc. it was more difficult with the 48hrs rule when working 3 days in a row.

When mine were younger I did Monday Tuesday and Thursday and that worked for me. I did experiment with how to split my hours to fit both my employer and family and that was the best fit for all.

I've done both: 3 consecutive days (Wed-Fri) and 3 split days (Tue,Wed and Fri)

I much much preferred the split days. I had a nice rest on Thurs whereas I was knackered by Friday when I did the 3 days together.

Workwise it was easier too. Doing the 3 days together meant I had a build up of 2 day's work to deal with when I came in on Wed. Doing the split days meant that I was only ever away for 1 day at a time.

My colleagues preferred that my hours were split as they often had issues on Monday and could not get hold of me till Wed when I was doing the consecutive days.

I currently work Tues and Thurs. It suits me - I love my Wednesday, like an extra little weekend.

I worked Mon, Tues, Thurs for several years, and it was a great pattern. Only one days emails etc to catch up with on Monday morning, two days work, by the end of which it almost felt like the start of the weekend - with the bulk of my week's work done. Wednesday was almost like a 'breather' in the middle of the week, and a lovely day to spend with my child/children. Back in on Thursday, again only one day to catch up on, and only that day to work before a 3-day weekend. Personally, because I had the luxury of working part-time, and of choosing which days to work, I preferred that the children didn't have 3 consecutive days in childcare, when I had the option to break it up for them.

I did 4 days a week for several years, and chose to have Wednesday as my non-working day. It meant that no-one ever had to wait more than one extra day for a response at work, IYSWIM, and that I was never more than 2 days away from a day "off" (which in turn meant that the laundry/washing up/general chaos was never piled more than 2 days deep and didn't seem quite so insurmountable)

Good point about the childcare too - you never have to deal with 3 days worth of accumulated tiredness (my DD always loved nursery but she did get tired) and I was able to pick DS up for sure on Wednesdays which meant that he felt less like Mummy was "never" there.

I do a split week, working Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. It seems to work well, feels like I cover more of the week, get a mid week break and never work more than two days consecutively.

God, I bloody hate doing a split week. I work Monday, Tuesday and Thursday as that's when my childminder does- before that I did Monday, Tuesday and Weds, and before that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is without a doubt the best combo.

Before going on maternity leave this time I had Wednesdays off and j agree, it's a nice pattern. It started when arranging childcare - Wednesday is the nursery's busiest day as many people work Mon, Tue, wed or we'd, thur, Fri, so there were no spaces that day.

I work mon, weds & thurs, went back in nov, so still building up my stamina to be honest. I chose these days for the following reasons

• I did not want dc doing 3 consecutive days at nursery, as like pp mentioned although dc enjoys nursery, she finds it very tiring
• previously I did not work a Monday and felt I missed out on bank holidays
• I wanted a Friday off, to get that long weekend feeling

So far so good!

I've done both and def prefer consecutive days to the split week. It keeps my work brain and my mummy brain separate and knowing I'm done with work after my 3 or 4 days (again, have done both) works better for me, but I do think its a very personal thing which depends on both your individual mindset and the nature of your job.

Thanks for all of your responses, they've been very helpful. I hadn't thought about the sick child/48 hours thing, but that is a very handy practical point! Also my son is always exhausted on Thursday, so breaking the week up for him might be a good thing too.

Those of you who don't like split weeks, can I ask why?

Thank you, I feel much more positive after this. I think I might give it a go (watch the nursery not be able to swap days now!)