Has anyone gone from 4 days to 3 or job share, was it worth it?

[rookiemater]

I work 4 days a week and I find it quite hard. Don't get me wrong I know I'm fortunate that my employers agreed to pt working and my commute is short ( I cycle which is fun) our C/M is fabulous and DH whilst not a whizz on the domestic chores is very good with DS and we have a cleaner 3 hours a week. So in many ways I know I am very lucky.

However work has been tough recently as we are going through our 20 millionth restructure and I have been finding it hard going and tend to be a bit snappy with DS in the evening. Then I feel bad because he is at such a lovely age and I'm generally really good with him at the weekend and on my non working day ( hes snoozing at the minute)Also we have been ttc no 2 for well over a year now with no joy and my periods have been getting progressively more painful so I'm knocked out for about 2 days in 28.

Anyway enough rambling, DH and I have discussed things. I don't want to give up work, but I'd very much like to reduce the number of days I work or try to do a job share. The timings not great so I think I would need to wait until next year to put in my application when hopefully things will have settled down.

Has anyone reduced their days like this? Was it worth it and do you feel that your DCs benefitted from the extra time ? Also a concern for me is that working 4 days a week I feel part of everything whereas if I was there less often I might feel a bit removed from things.

I work 3 days and dont really feel removed from things. I miss bits of gossip sometimes but thats it

I do Tuesday to Thursday which suits me fine, I can do the housework in the day when DS is at school (before did it whilst he napped or played) and therefore can enjoy the weekends. If you have a cleaner you'll have even more free time.

Does get a little lonely whilst he's at school as housework doesnt take more than a couple of hours as I keep everything neat anyway and dont drive so dont stray far on those days.

DS definately benefits - I get to fetch him from school twice a week and have the flexability to attend concerts etc plus if he's ill its much easier to cover 3 days than 4 or 5.

Thanks HappyMummy. I forgot to mention DS age, he is 2.5 so I don't think I will have a chance to get lonely and I really want to have more time with him before he starts school. I just don't know if I can pluck up the nerve to ask for it in case they just turn me down flat

Depends on how you approach it, if you're after a job share for the one day you wish to lose they may say no as the chances of finding somebody to work 1 day a week are slim.

If there is plenty of work and you struggle to fit it into 4 days then you could suggest a job share to pick up the extra work plus the day you want to drop.

I dont have a job share, anything urgent a colleague picks up for me but rest waits until I am back in. I do have remote access though which does help if I need to do anything extra or its a busy period. Would that be an option for you?

I'm not sure how to approach it yet, as we are in the middle of another darn restructure, so no idea what my job will look like in the future.

I could get remote access, but tbh on my one day with DS I don't get much of a chance to do anything except chores and do things with him.

I wanted to know more wether anyone had reduced their days and how they found it once they did it.