5 ms·

I really wish there were jobs out there that let you do this. My ideal work week is 32 hours, with occasional bursts of more. I've met very few traditional work

I really wish there were jobs out there that let you do this. My ideal work week is 32 hours, with occasional bursts of more. I've met very few traditional workplaces that were very open to the idea of part time schedules. For me, focus is all or nothing during work hours. I'd much rather bring fire for fewer hours each day, and then recharge with some of my other pursuits.

tirant 10y ago
Here in the Netherlands is very, very common to have 3 or 4-day working weeks. Those free days are usually taken by parents who want to stay at home and take care of their children, but also by older people. I barely know anyone that takes extra hours either. At 5pm almost everyone has left the office.
- peatmoss 10y ago
  Ah yes, I should have specified the US. When I lived in New Zealand, I think my contracts were based around a 36.5 hour week. Even that was noticeably nicer than the 40+ hour expectation here in the states.
- glenndebacker 10y ago
  In Belgium that is also mostly the case. But at my current company we have a 40 hour weeks (and a lot of unpaid overtime) because for some bizarre reason management is convinced "that is how successful Silicon valley does it". I personally think that American dominance in technology has to do with other things than low pay/max hours, but who am I. This is the first time in more then a decade that I am working in such a regime and I'm not really convinced that I am now more productive then ever. Au contraire, I have the feeling that I'm working more on autopilot and I'm a lot less creative in solving problems. In the past when I was dealing with a problem, solutions often came when I was doing something mundane like driving or gardening. I got my best solutions/idea's when I was away from my computer. The moment you could switch off and put your unconscious mind to work, now I frankly don't have the time.
keithpeter 10y ago
Teaching? Not sure if it would pay enough where you are; and not sure if you would want to try it (not easy work if you do it properly). Teaching can be fractionalised quite easily - I do 3/4 of a standard teaching week so I teach fewer classes spread over 4 days. To fit your second paragraph, you would need to be very disciplined about getting the preparation and marking done within your chosen working days.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- pmiller2 10y ago
  That last sentence is absolutely key. Most people do not understand that the time commitment involved in teaching is not well approximated by the amount of time spent in front of the class.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
panarky 10y ago
I would gladly trade half my income to work half as many hours. But I find I can only keep my knowledge current and skills sharp by putting in a lot of time. If I worked half as much, I'd be worth less per hour, and total income would drop far more than 50%.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- astronautjones 10y ago
  I made this trade and couldn't be happier.
  - xiphias 10y ago
    What do you do with the extra time?
    - astronautjones 10y ago
      Writing music and stories. Some painting. Learning to speak a couple new languages. Stimulating other parts of my brain/personality as much as possible
rconti 10y ago
That would be great, although I'm not sure the 15 hours per week mentioned makes any sense. I find that the more I switch off from work (the weeks and months where I've taken lots of vacation, or never look at work stuff after hours or on weekends), the harder it is to keep up with it and stay engaged. I honestly feel that if I came to work 5 hours a day, 3 days a week, I'd be less productive per hour.

tirant 10y ago

Here in the Netherlands is very, very common to have 3 or 4-day working weeks. Those free days are usually taken by parents who want to stay at home and take care of their children, but also by older people. I barely know anyone that takes extra hours either. At 5pm almost everyone has left the office.

peatmoss 10y ago
Ah yes, I should have specified the US. When I lived in New Zealand, I think my contracts were based around a 36.5 hour week. Even that was noticeably nicer than the 40+ hour expectation here in the states.
glenndebacker 10y ago
In Belgium that is also mostly the case. But at my current company we have a 40 hour weeks (and a lot of unpaid overtime) because for some bizarre reason management is convinced "that is how successful Silicon valley does it". I personally think that American dominance in technology has to do with other things than low pay/max hours, but who am I. This is the first time in more then a decade that I am working in such a regime and I'm not really convinced that I am now more productive then ever. Au contraire, I have the feeling that I'm working more on autopilot and I'm a lot less creative in solving problems. In the past when I was dealing with a problem, solutions often came when I was doing something mundane like driving or gardening. I got my best solutions/idea's when I was away from my computer. The moment you could switch off and put your unconscious mind to work, now I frankly don't have the time.

keithpeter 10y ago

Teaching? Not sure if it would pay enough where you are; and not sure if you would want to try it (not easy work if you do it properly). Teaching can be fractionalised quite easily - I do 3/4 of a standard teaching week so I teach fewer classes spread over 4 days. To fit your second paragraph, you would need to be very disciplined about getting the preparation and marking done within your chosen working days.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
pmiller2 10y ago
That last sentence is absolutely key. Most people do not understand that the time commitment involved in teaching is not well approximated by the amount of time spent in front of the class.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

panarky 10y ago

I would gladly trade half my income to work half as many hours. But I find I can only keep my knowledge current and skills sharp by putting in a lot of time. If I worked half as much, I'd be worth less per hour, and total income would drop far more than 50%.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
astronautjones 10y ago
I made this trade and couldn't be happier.
- xiphias 10y ago
  What do you do with the extra time?
  - astronautjones 10y ago
    Writing music and stories. Some painting. Learning to speak a couple new languages. Stimulating other parts of my brain/personality as much as possible

rconti 10y ago

That would be great, although I'm not sure the 15 hours per week mentioned makes any sense. I find that the more I switch off from work (the weeks and months where I've taken lots of vacation, or never look at work stuff after hours or on weekends), the harder it is to keep up with it and stay engaged. I honestly feel that if I came to work 5 hours a day, 3 days a week, I'd be less productive per hour.