Compressed hours - is it exhausting or OK?

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Working / career mums, I’m going to put in a flexible working request so I can try and retain every other Monday off with my preschool kid. My workplace wants me to be full-time, but I’d like the time with him as he’s only three. For anyone that moved to a compressed working pattern where you do 10 days over 9, has it worked out for you? It would mean making my working pattern 8.45–6.15 p.m. Has that left any of you too exhausted? on days I want to do nursery pickup I would just have to do an extra hour in the evening as well. I’m interested to see the reality of this with both preschool age kids and if it worked when your kids to school as well (e.g in holidays you get a proper “mum isn’t working today” parent)

My other option is I go to 5 full days where our normal start time is 9.30 and so it’s a bit of a bit more chilled morning. Or I can try and push and take a 10% pay cut and have every other Monday as just non-working. This is my preferred option, but assume they will say no.

My DH does it but compresses 5 to 4 every week. It means he leaves breakfasts to me to sort out and logs on early unless I'm working in the office, in which case he logs on early, pauses to do school run and then makes it up later. He then works until 5 every day and shuts off.

He is definitely not exhausted, far more rested than 5 days a week but he does need me to do those mornings and after schools (so 7-9 and 3-5 with dc) as we don't use breakfast or after-school club. So i'd say you need a supportive partner or good wrap around on those days.

I work full time around these hours but this means I work 5-7am 9am-3pm and 7-11pm every day and what I can at weekends too to catch up but that's because the norm in my field is more like 80 hours a week so I struggle to keep up with peers as they don't have DC.

Pretty much everybody I know who attempted compressed hours whether 5 in 4 or 10 in 9 has given up and just taken the pay cut. It’s really long days and the general consensus among those I know has been that the 1 day doesn’t make up for the the total lack of time basically on all other days. It depends when your child & your job though.

We have a 1 year old and if I did this then I’d have a hectic rush of a morning to get her ready & to nursery and then by the time I finished work and got home I’d have basically 30-45 mins with her before she goes to bed including bath/bedtime routine etc. For me personally having 1 day off every fortnight wouldn’t make up for having pretty much no time with her the other 9 days.

Thanks this is really insightful. This is what I’ve got a slight niggle about. We know a couple of dads on our street who do it and are working okay with that but part of me thinks it’s just a bit different for mums. I like greeting him at nursery and doing his bath. I’m also a bit nervous that really long days and then having a bouncy three-year-old on a Monday will actually tire me out too much 😆.
i really really want to do the paycut option especially because it’s only two Mondays per month but I nearly a good argument. It’s quite a young age company and we’re a bit under- resourced, but I know I can work faster than the average person anyway.

9 in 10 days is not compressed very much that the days should seem very much longer. Lots of salaried people will be working the equivalent of that long each day anyway for full time, without the day off given back.

I found 9 days in 10 not that much difference from normal full time, however I started much earlier around 7:45am.

Now I do compressed into a 4 day week and my days are 10hrs including my lunch break, it's long but so worth it for my extra day off each week.

I worked a 9 day fortnight for ages and it was fine. Could you start earlier though? I started at 8 so it wasn’t so late for dinner etc

Do those hours include a one hour lunch break? Could you take 30 minutes instead?

I work compressed hours and work four longer days every week. However, my contracted hours are only 35, so I work 8-5:15 four days with a 30 minute lunch. I absolutely love it.

I work for local government and a 9 day fortnight is quite normal here. My DC are now adults, and I was PT when they were small, but I find the slightly longer working day fine.

I tend to start work at 8 and finish at 5.45 or 6pm. I almost always take a 1 hour lunch break to walk the dog. I keep a log of my hours and have every other Friday off. It's great.

I did 5 into 4 for 2 years and I loved it. I worked 7am - 5pm and I had a commute of 45 mins each way. It was tiring but meant I had a day to go to the baby groups and run errands that can only be done during the week (doctors appointments etc.) However it also meant I could almost never do drop off or pick up so you'd need a supportive partner to make it work.

I found it absolutely exhausting when my DC were little and I barely saw them on work days. I was commuting about an hour door-to-door, but it might be more manageable now WFH.

I do a 9 day fortnight. 8-5. I get more done in that first hour than the rest of the day!
Not exhausted.

I've done both a 9 day fortnight and 5 days in 4 and definitely prefer the 5 days in 4. My days are long, 8-6, but that one day off each week is amazing for appointments, nipping into town when it's quiet etc.

What I would say is to consider when your day off is. Everyone wants a Fri or Mon as their day off, and I get why, but I took the Wednesday and it's brilliant. It breaks up the week so you're looking at two days of work, then time off, then another two days, then time off again. My boss does 4 compressed days and has Friday off and is knackered by the time Thursday comes round.

DH and I both do 10 days in 9 and it works for us. Childcare only needed 4 days a week which helped.

For me it’s not really had much of an impact. In a senior role so hours aren’t monitored and do pick up the odd email on my day off/in the evening. DH job is a bit more monitored hours-wise but does WFH more than I do so does his longer days (still use breakfast and after school club)

I have done 10 days in 9 and find it fine. I would probably work the same length of day regardless tbh so it's a bonus to get a day a fortnight off

I do 9 days and love it. I never left on time anyway, so I haven’t felt like the days are much longer.

Above 9hr starts to feel a bit much, but I think if you can start earlier (before 8) and finish by 5pm it may seem less exhausting for everyone.

I found it really stressful when my employer trialled it. The longer days felt more pressured - and there was an expectation that things like doctors / dentists all were taken on the day off rather than boss previously not too bothered about staff doing them during the working day. The days felt really long and I’d get snappy with the kids If I knew I had to get them to sleep and log back on to work to make up the hours.

Try to reduce your lunches, linked to EU working time directive you only need a 20 minute break after 6hrs. I do compressed hours Mon to Thurs and I make it work so I can have every Friday off with my little boy.

If you’re like my colleagues you’ll fudge the extra hours anyway and just get a free day off. If you’re like me, I do the extra hours anyway so may as well get a day off for it. Definitely worth it.

Some places expect you to work all your hours in the first place and do personal things in your free time.

Not 9 in 10 but i used to do 5 in 4 and now do 4 in 3. I have a 3.5 year old. I am not exhausted. I go to the gym in my lunch break and have a hobby on a Tuesday night.

I want to do 4 in 3 forever!

I do 5 days in 4. My boss convinced me to try it after maternity leave by basically saying she tried it and ended up just doing full time but not getting paid for it. Fortunately boss is understanding and doesn’t micro manage and clock watch. I do 7:30-6 4 days. Nursery opens at 7:30 so DH usually does drop off on his way to work, and often collects on his way home ( I wfh 2-3 days per week). When I need to do drop off/pick up I often have to make up the time through the week in the evening or sometimes join calls on my day off. It’s tough in many ways but I love my 3 day weekends with my little one. I’d love more time with him in the evening but we usually have about 1.5 -2 hours before he’s asleep so it’s not so bad.

In reality I’d like to work 3 standard days and take the pay cut, but we need the money. I’m worried I will regret not just accepting being skint for a bit longer and having more time with him whilst he’s little, but we have a house renovation that needs finishing, somehow.

it’s a really tough balance and there’s so many factors to consider, but I’d think about whether your job is adaptable enough to make it work or will you just being doing the same amount in less time for less pay?

Whatever you decide I hope you get the support from work and remember it’s not forever and if it doesn’t work, change it.

@Postre
yeahs that’s fine when NHS dentists and doctors appointments also run on weekends

I think it can depend on how demanding your job is.
I do condensed hours, Monday-Thursday 8-17:30.
I find it great, love my day off in the week with my youngest and enjoy doing the school run with my eldest. My job is work from home and not high pressured. I may have felt differently if I was in meetings all day and had very tight deadlines to work too.

The people I know who do it find it fine... but have rock solid wraparound care in place so that on those days, they just don't have to think about it.

I work in the kind of job and have plenty of friends in similar job where hours like this are standard (ie full time involves longer days) and the one thing most of us agree once we have chidlren is that in this sort of culture, it's only possible if you have that support at home in whatever form that looks like for you.

In my case, DH was a SAHD. In my sister's case, her and her DH and their nanny had firm agreements in place regarding which days they all worked late. A friend's mum comes to hers and stays over 2 nights a week and on the third day her DH has an agreement wiith his boss that he leaves 100% on time (she's on a compressed 4 days over 3 schedule).

The point is that it's hard to do those sort of hours if you are also doing all the wrap around care/nursery drop offs/pick ups etc.