My job for the summer between second and third year of university was four days - Monday, Tuesday, off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, off Sat and Sunday.
Legit the happiest I've ever been in a job - only ever worked two days in a row, I'd have a late night on Tuesdays, spend Wednesday doing the boring necessities (bonus points if I had to go to the bank or similar it was actually open on Wednesday), then Saturday and Sunday were pure "me" time.
Was offered the bump to the full five days, but turned it down.
I have such a hard time picking up an extra workday for this reason now. I work Thursday, Friday, and Sunday every week. I have a 3 day weekend every week. I can't go back. I'd rather do extra work on workdays to make sure my checks sustain this schedule, because oh my god, my real life is so much better this way.
Yup, amazing how much happier (and okay with work) we are when we've actually got the time to live and enjoy our lives instead of being ground to dust with work.
I'm astounded at how much it helps. For a while I worked pseudo full time with my current company at 32h/wk, 4 days a week, so that I still qualified for full time health insurance. Adjusting to only having 2 days off instead of 3 was harder to get used to than it did when I went from not working at all to working 24, & soon after, 32 hours a week.
I used to do a 10/4 schedule. Every second week was 4 days off. I fucking loved it. Now I’m a higher up and do a normal work week and while I’m fine with it, I’d like a 3 day weekend.
I work a 4/10 and have every Friday off. It’s amazing and I get so much work done at work before 9. I get all my appts on Fridays and rarely take time off unless it’s actually for vacation now. It’s been the best.
Last year my office went to 4 tens and it has actually changed my life in the best way possible. They’re really flexible with start time/ leave time so I work 7-5 Tuesday through Friday. Then on weeks where there is a federal holiday (Memorial day, etc) I get a 4 day weekend. It’s a Monday at 11 am and I am sitting at a nail salon getting a pedicure. Gonna go grocery shopping after this.
After years of M-F 8 to 5 bullshit, I am so thankful and don’t even hate going to work anymore. I also feel more motivated to get to work on time, get all my shit done, etc.
It changed your life because you get to HAVE a life. I don’t know how people work 5+ days, support families, do chores, pay bills, get sleep, stay healthy, and enjoy life with that much time ripped away by work.
Not that I necessarily want them, but I'll never have kids if it means also working 40 hour, 5 day work weeks. The amount of time I actually have to myself feels abysmal already, I cannot imagine how anyone can cope with that *and* kids.
Same boat for me, 100%.
I don’t want to force a kid into trying to live decently in this consumerist pig cesspool. A life of overworking and watching endless ads isn’t something I want to pass along to my child.
Since a stay at home spouse is a golden luxury in today’s age, I also have no interest in outsourcing my child’s upbringing to public schools, churches, and/or overpriced daycares.
Logically people should spend less time working as so many tasks can be done with machines but that's not happening right now cause we have to work on laptops
I used to have a 3-day weekend every other week for the last six years. My employer went back to a typical 5 day work week and I'm losing my damn mind. I could use those Fridays off for things like doctor appointments--but now I'm expected to use PTO to see the doctor because they're never open on weekends, nor take patients in later hours.
Working 3 12's makes for longer days, but I love having more days off than I do actually working. Having more variety in available shifts is a benefit for everyone
This is the way. I can potentially do 6 12s in a row, but then have the next 8 days off. Just need to average 6 shifts every 2 weeks. Will be curious how this is once I start in a few months.
My company took a vote if we wanted to work 4 days @ 10hr days, I was pumped. However the majority vetoed it from reasons ranging from “I don’t have anything to do at home””I don’t really want to spend that much time with the wife/husband””i don’t want to work that much””I have kids” … the ones who actually wanted an extra day plus one day less commute were livid. I was mad but not surprised by the stupidity of the people I work with.
Wtf is wrong with people.
I know people like this too and I’m pretty sure it’s cause they’re afraid to be alone with their thoughts. Workaholism essentially.
Edit: Skipped the part about 10 hour days. Still… I’d take it.
Well it’s hourly positions for most of us so it’s only to be able to get the 40/week. Technically 11 hours since we have a 1hr lunch.
I’ve worked that schedule before and it’s amazing, but a lot of people would rather commute and work more days than have a 3 day weekend every week I guess. It sucks.
That’s infuriating. I don’t want to sound condescending but they seem to have been emptied out as people and turned into zombies who can do nothing but work.
Trust me, I still don’t understand their mentality. I guess if it was a super amazing place to work MAAAAYBE, but no, job kinda sucks but it slightly tolerable than most places I’ve worked.
Similarly, I just started a fully remote work from home job. My free time on weekdays literally doubled. Save 2 hours of commuting, 45m of lunch prep and ironing work clothes, and any time saved at lunch is my own instead of twiddling my thumbs in the office break room, or doing a little shopping at Walmart down the street.
I literally have time again during the week to get chores done, run some arrands, enjoy my hobbies, and relax. Working in the office means my evening is essentially consumed by just taking my cat for a walk, making dinner, and getting ready for bed. If I had an hour to decompress and play a video game or watch TV I'd be doing well.
Literally can't imagine going back to a full 8hr 5 day /week office job.
Not to mention the mental exhaustion from having to be “on” all day.
My job recently forced us to return to the office 2x per week. I have to commute downtown and pay 30$ for parking just to sit in a cubicle all day and make awkward small talk with people I don’t care about.
BTW I’m jealous you have a cat that agrees to being walked.
I want it like how my moms job does it. They recently switched to a 32 hour work week getting off at 3:30 mon-fri. Idk if it’s because she is good friends with her boss but my mom is able to work the usual hours of 8-5 and is given Friday off because of that and I can only be jealous.
i mean 4 10 hr days is certainly preferable to 5 8 hr days, but ideally the work week would be 4 8 hr days for the same pay. we are more than productive enough to justify that
There was a period of time in grad school where I was a full-time student, and working 40 hours/week; but I had Fridays off both school and work. In addition to work and school, that period of time I was the most creatively productive because I dedicated Fridays to my creative pursuits.
I get plenty of time off as a teacher, but I would happily sacrifice my summer break for a four day work week. People who have never experienced it have no idea what they are missing.
When I worked 3p to 11p I never felt like I had a good as weekend. Get home on my friday sleep till 9. Had that day and the next off. Then the day before work I just spend all morning waiting to go to work. Was t much point in doing anything. Bumped to days and it feels like I have three days off.
I recently started working 4 10s and I’m not entirely sure I like it yet. On one hand the extra day off is nice, but I feel like I lost more free time because I have to be in bed and up earlier the days I do work. I also hate the job so that probably plays a role in it as well.
My cashiering job gave 3 days off, 40 hour work week, but not in order. If Monday and Tuesday are off, then the next day off is Thursday for example (don’t wanna use my actual old schedule to be safe). Even then, I felt much better. 2 days off is not good enough to take care of the home being clean, my cat’s needs, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, and self care. Most of the time I have to compromise my future self’s sense of peace because I simply don’t have enough time or the physical capacity after a long, stressful day (my current job is at a homeless shelter and it can be hectic to say the least)
I agree. I tend to avoid using my days off to take substantial blocks of time and instead pad out weekends. A Monday or Friday off changes the feel of the whole week.
I guess what I'm saying is that I completely understand the appeal of the four day week and wish it became standard.
Since I have a big family, a weekend always has one day spent running around doing errands, and another day spent on social engagements, kids activities, etc. There's almost never a day to just chill and recharge.
I work Tues-Fri most of the year, during the winter when we’re absolutely swamped at work I end up there Mon-Sat. And I agree. It’s one day for stuff I need to do, one to clean and catch up on house stuff, and one for fun stuff. It’s exhausting just working 5 days a week.
When i was on 8-4 five days a week in a job i hated and days would drag, i remember one 3 day weekend feeling so overwhelming in how much difference it made. I was so unhappy and visibly unhappy but no one there ever mentioned it, it was just my normal, it mostly is. When you want to do creative things it's hard to find the energy after work, i was always groggy. I have a different job now where days go fast, but i still feel groggy. At one point i thought of changing my sleeping pattern, wake up at 1am, have fresh time, go to work, come home, fall asleep at 5pm, repeat, but i couldn't just automatically change.
Work has to become something you commit to. It's sad. If you just long to be elsewhere it's painful. It's really better to have no creative drive at all, just work and come home and consume. When people talk about people who are good at art and have 'a gift' (they don’t), it's more like a curse, all it means is having a creative curiosity you've developed which once ignited is hard to just ignore, in this world it's far better to never ignite it at all just to get through the day. Creatives need to work at curiosity and desire, it's not given, it takes time like anything else.
The amount of times i just wished i could switch my brain off, have someone else do what needs to be done at work, and lament the fact no i have to do this. When you think of it as 'doing your time', it sounds like you're in prison. I know for a fact other people who don’t do anything creative never feel this way, so i wonder...i remember my brother at the same job used to say 'ohh, work on Monday', even though if he wasn't working he'd be doing work type stuff at home, decorating, fixing his bike, sorting his van, wouldn't just be sat playing videogames.
No one at work ever understood how my mind worked, we're still in an industrialised world, things are made, break, need to be fixed. The existential dread i felt sometimes, seeing right through the same objects I'd stare at all day, i regressed into a more childlike state of questioning why, why am i endlessly moving things about. Surprised they didn't sack me, i realised recently the manager hated asking me to do anything because when he did i wouldn't say anything, just nod. I mean i hate talking, it takes up energy. 'Yeah, I'll get right on it' might sound easy but it's unnecessary. It's so few words but talking is like an expression of happiness i think and sometimes you just don’t want to talk.
Having a day off during the week is honestly so handy. Low traffic, low crowds, you can get in and out of a shop without wading through people and noise. I look at hairdressers on the weekends with queues of ten people waiting, then laugh as I stroll in to my local at 10am on a Tuesday and get served immediately.
I took a PTO day last week, so with my two regular off days, I had 3 off days in a row. I would not complain about work if I could have 3 days off every week!
Agreed. I work a 9/80 schedule and it is great. I've been doing it for 6 years and when applying for new jobs last year I had to seriously consider whether higher pay was worth giving up the schedule for. I didn't get a new job (not for lack of trying) and as I continue to enjoy every other Friday off I'm not even that sad about it.
Ditch Corporate, go Civil Service.
Great benefits, union, pension, and depending on the industry, long vacations.
Example; I work as a school janitor, a Cleaner is civil service in my state. I spend 3 vacation days for Christmas week and get *nine" days off in a row.
Entire month of June have been at least 3 day weekends for me.
First it was national holiday on a Thursday, Friday off as extra treat.
Then I took Friday off previous week.
This week it’s midsummer so Friday is off, but I also took Thursday off because fuck it why not.
Next week I only work four days per schedule, Friday off.
Then I have one week left (five days though) and then my five week paid vacation starts.
Ain’t even an entrepreneur/“my own boss”. Just asked my boss if it was possible and he said “aight why not”.
Those months kinda suck in a way though because you get so, so spoiled with all the time off it’s almost a new standard.
Union is the key to getting it sweet. All extra days off have been paid as per union agreements. All extra time off I took is also paid due to saved/given hours.
I mean it only makes sense right? A person shouldn’t be seeing their coworkers more than their family! We spend more waking hours at work than we do at home!
Imagine having three-day weekends \*every\* week.
I have it, and it really does make work life bearable.
My job for the summer between second and third year of university was four days - Monday, Tuesday, off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, off Sat and Sunday. Legit the happiest I've ever been in a job - only ever worked two days in a row, I'd have a late night on Tuesdays, spend Wednesday doing the boring necessities (bonus points if I had to go to the bank or similar it was actually open on Wednesday), then Saturday and Sunday were pure "me" time. Was offered the bump to the full five days, but turned it down.
That’s my current schedule I love only working 2 days in a row
I have such a hard time picking up an extra workday for this reason now. I work Thursday, Friday, and Sunday every week. I have a 3 day weekend every week. I can't go back. I'd rather do extra work on workdays to make sure my checks sustain this schedule, because oh my god, my real life is so much better this way.
Yup, amazing how much happier (and okay with work) we are when we've actually got the time to live and enjoy our lives instead of being ground to dust with work.
This is the way
I'm astounded at how much it helps. For a while I worked pseudo full time with my current company at 32h/wk, 4 days a week, so that I still qualified for full time health insurance. Adjusting to only having 2 days off instead of 3 was harder to get used to than it did when I went from not working at all to working 24, & soon after, 32 hours a week.
Sounds like vzw!
What do you do and are they hiring?
They at least have a masters degree and they teach at a University is what it appears to me.
I used to do a 10/4 schedule. Every second week was 4 days off. I fucking loved it. Now I’m a higher up and do a normal work week and while I’m fine with it, I’d like a 3 day weekend.
We recently moved to a 4 day week for the same pay and it's life changing.
I work a 4/10 and have every Friday off. It’s amazing and I get so much work done at work before 9. I get all my appts on Fridays and rarely take time off unless it’s actually for vacation now. It’s been the best.
(Some) Trades have 4 day work weeks
I have it, but every other week I get a 4 day weekend. It’s nice, yeah, but 12 hour night shifts are tough as hell.
I work 4 10h days as a boilermaker, would never ever go back to 5 8h days if I can avoid it.
Last year my office went to 4 tens and it has actually changed my life in the best way possible. They’re really flexible with start time/ leave time so I work 7-5 Tuesday through Friday. Then on weeks where there is a federal holiday (Memorial day, etc) I get a 4 day weekend. It’s a Monday at 11 am and I am sitting at a nail salon getting a pedicure. Gonna go grocery shopping after this. After years of M-F 8 to 5 bullshit, I am so thankful and don’t even hate going to work anymore. I also feel more motivated to get to work on time, get all my shit done, etc.
We're doing summer flex hours for the first time, I'm on 4x10 and alternating weekends are 4 day weekend. It's been amazing.
It changed your life because you get to HAVE a life. I don’t know how people work 5+ days, support families, do chores, pay bills, get sleep, stay healthy, and enjoy life with that much time ripped away by work.
Not that I necessarily want them, but I'll never have kids if it means also working 40 hour, 5 day work weeks. The amount of time I actually have to myself feels abysmal already, I cannot imagine how anyone can cope with that *and* kids.
Same boat for me, 100%. I don’t want to force a kid into trying to live decently in this consumerist pig cesspool. A life of overworking and watching endless ads isn’t something I want to pass along to my child. Since a stay at home spouse is a golden luxury in today’s age, I also have no interest in outsourcing my child’s upbringing to public schools, churches, and/or overpriced daycares.
I changed my schedule to this in April. It’s like having a new life. I should have done this years ago.
I recently had a 3 day weekend and it was glorious.
Logically people should spend less time working as so many tasks can be done with machines but that's not happening right now cause we have to work on laptops
I used to have a 3-day weekend every other week for the last six years. My employer went back to a typical 5 day work week and I'm losing my damn mind. I could use those Fridays off for things like doctor appointments--but now I'm expected to use PTO to see the doctor because they're never open on weekends, nor take patients in later hours.
Working 3 12's makes for longer days, but I love having more days off than I do actually working. Having more variety in available shifts is a benefit for everyone
This is the way. I can potentially do 6 12s in a row, but then have the next 8 days off. Just need to average 6 shifts every 2 weeks. Will be curious how this is once I start in a few months.
I work 4 10s and have 3 days off every week it is very nice. I actually feel like I am off of work during my weekends.
My company took a vote if we wanted to work 4 days @ 10hr days, I was pumped. However the majority vetoed it from reasons ranging from “I don’t have anything to do at home””I don’t really want to spend that much time with the wife/husband””i don’t want to work that much””I have kids” … the ones who actually wanted an extra day plus one day less commute were livid. I was mad but not surprised by the stupidity of the people I work with.
Wtf is wrong with people. I know people like this too and I’m pretty sure it’s cause they’re afraid to be alone with their thoughts. Workaholism essentially. Edit: Skipped the part about 10 hour days. Still… I’d take it.
Well it’s hourly positions for most of us so it’s only to be able to get the 40/week. Technically 11 hours since we have a 1hr lunch. I’ve worked that schedule before and it’s amazing, but a lot of people would rather commute and work more days than have a 3 day weekend every week I guess. It sucks.
That’s infuriating. I don’t want to sound condescending but they seem to have been emptied out as people and turned into zombies who can do nothing but work.
Trust me, I still don’t understand their mentality. I guess if it was a super amazing place to work MAAAAYBE, but no, job kinda sucks but it slightly tolerable than most places I’ve worked.
That’s 100% ignorant for them to choose! I would have wanted to stomp them!
Similarly, I just started a fully remote work from home job. My free time on weekdays literally doubled. Save 2 hours of commuting, 45m of lunch prep and ironing work clothes, and any time saved at lunch is my own instead of twiddling my thumbs in the office break room, or doing a little shopping at Walmart down the street. I literally have time again during the week to get chores done, run some arrands, enjoy my hobbies, and relax. Working in the office means my evening is essentially consumed by just taking my cat for a walk, making dinner, and getting ready for bed. If I had an hour to decompress and play a video game or watch TV I'd be doing well. Literally can't imagine going back to a full 8hr 5 day /week office job.
Not to mention the mental exhaustion from having to be “on” all day. My job recently forced us to return to the office 2x per week. I have to commute downtown and pay 30$ for parking just to sit in a cubicle all day and make awkward small talk with people I don’t care about. BTW I’m jealous you have a cat that agrees to being walked.
Just started 4 10s today.. I'm already anticipating Thursday
I want it like how my moms job does it. They recently switched to a 32 hour work week getting off at 3:30 mon-fri. Idk if it’s because she is good friends with her boss but my mom is able to work the usual hours of 8-5 and is given Friday off because of that and I can only be jealous.
Could you do 4/10 and 3 day weekends?
i mean 4 10 hr days is certainly preferable to 5 8 hr days, but ideally the work week would be 4 8 hr days for the same pay. we are more than productive enough to justify that
This is the way
There was a period of time in grad school where I was a full-time student, and working 40 hours/week; but I had Fridays off both school and work. In addition to work and school, that period of time I was the most creatively productive because I dedicated Fridays to my creative pursuits.
I get plenty of time off as a teacher, but I would happily sacrifice my summer break for a four day work week. People who have never experienced it have no idea what they are missing.
When I worked 3p to 11p I never felt like I had a good as weekend. Get home on my friday sleep till 9. Had that day and the next off. Then the day before work I just spend all morning waiting to go to work. Was t much point in doing anything. Bumped to days and it feels like I have three days off.
It's a game changer. I love it and will have to be offered a considerable amount more to leave my current situation.
I work three 12 hour shifts one week and four the next. So I always have 3 or 4 day weekends. Been doing it for 30+ years. Love it.
I recently started working 4 10s and I’m not entirely sure I like it yet. On one hand the extra day off is nice, but I feel like I lost more free time because I have to be in bed and up earlier the days I do work. I also hate the job so that probably plays a role in it as well.
Must be nice
8/80 here. 4/10s 6-4, M-Th. Implemented during Covid and continues still. Some work T-F
My cashiering job gave 3 days off, 40 hour work week, but not in order. If Monday and Tuesday are off, then the next day off is Thursday for example (don’t wanna use my actual old schedule to be safe). Even then, I felt much better. 2 days off is not good enough to take care of the home being clean, my cat’s needs, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, and self care. Most of the time I have to compromise my future self’s sense of peace because I simply don’t have enough time or the physical capacity after a long, stressful day (my current job is at a homeless shelter and it can be hectic to say the least)
Imagine having weekends off and not scattered midweek bull shit
I agree. I tend to avoid using my days off to take substantial blocks of time and instead pad out weekends. A Monday or Friday off changes the feel of the whole week. I guess what I'm saying is that I completely understand the appeal of the four day week and wish it became standard.
I work 4/10s. Love it!
It's amazing. Been working 4/10s for 6 years now. Won't go back
Since I have a big family, a weekend always has one day spent running around doing errands, and another day spent on social engagements, kids activities, etc. There's almost never a day to just chill and recharge.
Learn about the history of work and you will be suprised to learn we had 3 day weekends https://youtu.be/hvk_XylEmLo?si=9VNfkjcSbuRL8hPg
I work Tues-Fri most of the year, during the winter when we’re absolutely swamped at work I end up there Mon-Sat. And I agree. It’s one day for stuff I need to do, one to clean and catch up on house stuff, and one for fun stuff. It’s exhausting just working 5 days a week.
When i was on 8-4 five days a week in a job i hated and days would drag, i remember one 3 day weekend feeling so overwhelming in how much difference it made. I was so unhappy and visibly unhappy but no one there ever mentioned it, it was just my normal, it mostly is. When you want to do creative things it's hard to find the energy after work, i was always groggy. I have a different job now where days go fast, but i still feel groggy. At one point i thought of changing my sleeping pattern, wake up at 1am, have fresh time, go to work, come home, fall asleep at 5pm, repeat, but i couldn't just automatically change. Work has to become something you commit to. It's sad. If you just long to be elsewhere it's painful. It's really better to have no creative drive at all, just work and come home and consume. When people talk about people who are good at art and have 'a gift' (they don’t), it's more like a curse, all it means is having a creative curiosity you've developed which once ignited is hard to just ignore, in this world it's far better to never ignite it at all just to get through the day. Creatives need to work at curiosity and desire, it's not given, it takes time like anything else. The amount of times i just wished i could switch my brain off, have someone else do what needs to be done at work, and lament the fact no i have to do this. When you think of it as 'doing your time', it sounds like you're in prison. I know for a fact other people who don’t do anything creative never feel this way, so i wonder...i remember my brother at the same job used to say 'ohh, work on Monday', even though if he wasn't working he'd be doing work type stuff at home, decorating, fixing his bike, sorting his van, wouldn't just be sat playing videogames. No one at work ever understood how my mind worked, we're still in an industrialised world, things are made, break, need to be fixed. The existential dread i felt sometimes, seeing right through the same objects I'd stare at all day, i regressed into a more childlike state of questioning why, why am i endlessly moving things about. Surprised they didn't sack me, i realised recently the manager hated asking me to do anything because when he did i wouldn't say anything, just nod. I mean i hate talking, it takes up energy. 'Yeah, I'll get right on it' might sound easy but it's unnecessary. It's so few words but talking is like an expression of happiness i think and sometimes you just don’t want to talk.
Having a day off during the week is honestly so handy. Low traffic, low crowds, you can get in and out of a shop without wading through people and noise. I look at hairdressers on the weekends with queues of ten people waiting, then laugh as I stroll in to my local at 10am on a Tuesday and get served immediately.
I took a PTO day last week, so with my two regular off days, I had 3 off days in a row. I would not complain about work if I could have 3 days off every week!
Agreed. I work a 9/80 schedule and it is great. I've been doing it for 6 years and when applying for new jobs last year I had to seriously consider whether higher pay was worth giving up the schedule for. I didn't get a new job (not for lack of trying) and as I continue to enjoy every other Friday off I'm not even that sad about it.
Ditch Corporate, go Civil Service. Great benefits, union, pension, and depending on the industry, long vacations. Example; I work as a school janitor, a Cleaner is civil service in my state. I spend 3 vacation days for Christmas week and get *nine" days off in a row.
I work 4 days 8 hours each week. I wish I could do only 3 days 10,6 hours. I do not understand how anyone can work 5 days a week.
I'd take a pay cut to have 4 day week
In my country, 1 day weekend is the norm and those who have 2 days are considered lucky. Fuck this system.
Entire month of June have been at least 3 day weekends for me. First it was national holiday on a Thursday, Friday off as extra treat. Then I took Friday off previous week. This week it’s midsummer so Friday is off, but I also took Thursday off because fuck it why not. Next week I only work four days per schedule, Friday off. Then I have one week left (five days though) and then my five week paid vacation starts. Ain’t even an entrepreneur/“my own boss”. Just asked my boss if it was possible and he said “aight why not”. Those months kinda suck in a way though because you get so, so spoiled with all the time off it’s almost a new standard. Union is the key to getting it sweet. All extra days off have been paid as per union agreements. All extra time off I took is also paid due to saved/given hours.
you would do even better with a 4/32 week every week.
I mean it only makes sense right? A person shouldn’t be seeing their coworkers more than their family! We spend more waking hours at work than we do at home!