4 ms·

I suggest taking Wednesday off. It is a bit strange, but I liked it. Very little prep was needed, everyone (including clients) could accommodate rescheduling

by dade_ 5y ago

I suggest taking Wednesday off. It is a bit strange, but I liked it. Very little prep was needed, everyone (including clients) could accommodate rescheduling meetings and deadlines earlier or later by 1 day. I think 3 day weekends do cause a problem, it can be too long to wait for something, especially if it comes up the morning of the first day. However, we are accustomed to 2 days over a weekend, and 1 day is no big deal. While it is nice getting away for 3 days, the first day back is never very productive. Part of the day is just getting up my mind back into what I was working on and catching up on what I missed. Working 2 days feels like a super short week so it forced me to focus to make them productive, but it also tempered my habit of taking on too much. Wednesday completely feels like a Saturday, but businesses are open (well some of them with COVID). Thursday morning was a disappointment, in my mind it was Sunday. The disappointment is short though, I only had 2 more days until the weekend! I never would have tried this, but my employer gives us a day off for our birthday that I normally use on a Monday or Friday to make into a long weekend. Due to COVID, I took it on the Wednesday it actually landed on. I would have never thought to try this otherwise. Give it a shot sometime.

apexalpha 5y ago
I have some people in my team who take Wednesdays off, mostly because they have kids and the schools are half days on Wednesday. Personally I'd take the 3 day weekend everytime. Shops are also open on Fridays so that point is kinda moot. And the fact that people have to wait for me is not really my problem. They also have to wait 5 weeks for me when I'm on holiday; it's the organisations' responsibility to make it work not mine. But if we all go to work 4 days, it might be beneficial to have 50% take Wednesday and 50% take Fridays.
Vinnl 5y ago
Four-day work weeks are not that rare in the Netherlands, so my experience might be coloured a bit by that (although I haven't worked for a Dutch organisation in quite a while), but although Fridays and Mondays were the most common day off, Wednesdays are pretty common too. The main reason for that is that primary school children have the afternoon off on Wednesday though, in combination with splitting the week in two. Personally, however, I still very much prefer Friday. Honestly, the extra day is not that big a deal — sure, it's three days away, but on two of those, everybody is away, and for the rest it's pretty much the least productive one anyway. I also found that Monday is actually super productive for me, mostly because after being away for three days, I'm usually actually looking forward to work again. Your mileage may vary with how much you enjoy your work though, I guess. That said, I don't mind too much answering the odd email on Fridays every now and then if something urgent and predictable does come along. The main benefit to me lies the mental state of not needing to work, and spending just half of my week working, which brings me a lot of peace of mind.
me_me_me 5y ago
reminds me of cpc gray video [few mins long] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaTm6VzTBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaTm6VzTBw

by dade_ 5y ago

apexalpha 5y ago

I have some people in my team who take Wednesdays off, mostly because they have kids and the schools are half days on Wednesday. Personally I'd take the 3 day weekend everytime. Shops are also open on Fridays so that point is kinda moot. And the fact that people have to wait for me is not really my problem. They also have to wait 5 weeks for me when I'm on holiday; it's the organisations' responsibility to make it work not mine. But if we all go to work 4 days, it might be beneficial to have 50% take Wednesday and 50% take Fridays.

Vinnl 5y ago

Four-day work weeks are not that rare in the Netherlands, so my experience might be coloured a bit by that (although I haven't worked for a Dutch organisation in quite a while), but although Fridays and Mondays were the most common day off, Wednesdays are pretty common too. The main reason for that is that primary school children have the afternoon off on Wednesday though, in combination with splitting the week in two. Personally, however, I still very much prefer Friday. Honestly, the extra day is not that big a deal — sure, it's three days away, but on two of those, everybody is away, and for the rest it's pretty much the least productive one anyway. I also found that Monday is actually super productive for me, mostly because after being away for three days, I'm usually actually looking forward to work again. Your mileage may vary with how much you enjoy your work though, I guess. That said, I don't mind too much answering the odd email on Fridays every now and then if something urgent and predictable does come along. The main benefit to me lies the mental state of not needing to work, and spending just half of my week working, which brings me a lot of peace of mind.

me_me_me 5y ago

reminds me of cpc gray video [few mins long] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaTm6VzTBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaTm6VzTBw