Consecutive or split days?

[Estellasmum]

Hi Ladies, I'm returning to the office and wondered what your thoughts are on work pattern. I have a day off each Wednesday. Would it be better to work in the office on consecutive days ie Monday and Tuesday or split my office days ie Tuesday and Friday? I need to attend the office 2 days per week. TIA

Sorry I meant to say Tuesday and Thursday. Would this be a better combo in the office over Monday and Tuesday? Thanks so much.

Anyone?

It depends if you have the type of job where people might need to see you in person. As if so split days are better then they only need to wait a day or two

I think this really depends on both your home needs (childcare, commute) and work benefits (meetings, colleagues). There is no one-size-fits-all answer. If there are zero dependencies and zero benefits, I'd go for being in the office on Mon/Tues just because I am more energised for commuting after the weekend!

Depends - what are you team members / doing. When would you get the most f2f time with them?

Also highly depends on your role, are you client facing, do you have deliverable normally due on a Friday? Friday is the most unproductive day in office imo. Tuesday and Wednesday are the most effective.

Wednesday splits the week already so I'd go for consecutive days in office.

Thank you Timefortea. People don't need to see me in person as most of my customers are spread throughout the UK and not at one site.

Can you decide each week or does it need to be set in stone?
Some weeks I do my two days in office together,
Others I split, depending on apps, childcare etc.
If I was you I'd do mon and tues to get it out the way.

It depends. I would split then if it means you will see a greater number of your colleagues.

I have Wednesdays off and typically do Tues and Thurs in the office, mainly because most people do a Mon and/or Fri at home, so would mean I wouldn’t see them anyway!

I think it depends how you feel about stuff. Personally I would prefer to start the week with 2 days in the office, so Monday and Tuesday - an earlier start, a commute etc. Start the week with two 'harder' days, then have my day off, then two 'easier' days at home (which would also lighten my weekend workload as I could throw a wash on etc.). But it really depends on how you operate!

What’s your commute like? I chose to go to the office Mon, Tues, Fri as there’s less traffic either side of the weekend and having a solid run of days means less carrying of equipment back and forth as well.

Thank you all. I like the thought of getting Monday Tuesday office days out the way at the beginning of the week but come Monday I feel I need headspace and time alone after a weekend with my kids! There are colleagues in the office on Monday and Thursday so would get face time.

I think that I would look at what days your children's school tends to do their assemblies etc. For example, ours used to be Thu but is now Friday and Wednesdays tend to be a popular day for parent activities. So for me, I'd want to be able to be home based those days.

It's about 40 mins to an hour each way. We have a clear desk policy so need to take everything home each time and bring back again, next visit.

Thanks everyone, it's given me lots to consider.