The working week - which is best?

h4rm0ny

h4rm0ny

h4rm0ny

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I've taken on a job that is very project based and predominantly my work. There's some interaction and dependency on others, but it's mostly asynchronous. Barring the occasional update meeting, I have no specific schedule requirements. Basically, I'll need to provide a significant number of hours (40-50 per week), but when I do them is not that important.

Holiday is not provided nor paid for. Any time I take off I'll need to make sure I can afford both in terms of money and delivering the project.

So here's my question - now that I'm not tied to the traditional working week or daily hours, what's the most natural and productive schedule for the human being? What routines have other people followed and how has it worked for them? I've always felt like a bit of a night owl but the traditional working week has always meant I'm trying to fill that with leisure rather than productivity. I've heard about people doing sleep patterns that follow a "six-day week" very successfully.

Any advice and experience from GD on this?
 
From a maximum productivity side, 6 hours a day of hard mental or physical work is optimal, but then you are working 7 days a week (although you can achieve more in 6x6hours than 5x8). I have done this before and i is better than it sounds, but with a family it is not rally possible anymore. With 6 hours a day you can get up early and get on with work and be done by noon, leaving the afternoon to go running/hiking/skiing/cycling/gym/drinking/gaming whatever (or vice versa). you never have a weekend but then every day has a great work-life balance so you don't feel you need it. The risk is those 6 hours turn to 8 and you end up working 7 days a week full time.

On the other extreme 4x10 hours gives a long weekend every weekend. The problem is it just isn't so productive as you get tired, and thr longer day means much less time to enjoy life until the weekend. It sounds more appealing than it is, especially if there is a commute involved.


Then in the real world you do 8-10 hours M-F and another 5-6 over the weekend.
 
I'm currently thinking of either working long hours for four days and having a three day weekend. Or alternately splitting the two weekend days to have one day off on Wednesday for mid-week. And keeping the Saturday as a day off.

This is going to be a lot of work so I need something that is sustainable and will stop me having a break-down.
 
I work 07:00 to 15:00. Always been an early morning person. Mostly though it avoides ask the traffic so I'm home in 45 minutes Vs 1h 50m of I finish at 17:00.
 
D.P. said:
From a maximum productivity side, 6 hours a day of hard mental or physical work is optimal, but then you are working 7 days a week (although you can achieve more in 6x6hours than 5x8). I have done this before and i is better than it sounds, but with a family it is not rally possible anymore. With 6 hours a day you can get up early and get on with work and be done by noon, leaving the afternoon to go running/hiking/skiing/cycling/gym/drinking/gaming whatever (or vice versa). you never have a weekend but then every day has a great work-life balance so you don't feel you need it. The risk is those 6 hours turn to 8 and you end up working 7 days a week full time.

On the other extreme 4x10 hours gives a long weekend every weekend. The problem is it just isn't so productive as you get tired, and thr longer day means much less time to enjoy life until the weekend. It sounds more appealing than it is, especially if there is a commute involved.


Then in the real world you do 8-10 hours M-F and another 5-6 over the weekend.
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I don't have any particular family commitments that would interfere with this right now. It's also quite focused work that requires me to pretty full on. One of the problems I'm trying to counter is the tendency for my attention to wander when I'm locked in a box for an extended period of time (metaphor for work, not literally). So the focused six hours would work. I can shift those six hours around a bit so I could get them done early on a weekend and still be up and about to have a sociable weekend afterward. Would be nice to have a lie in at least one day a week, though.
 
You can also split the 6 hous up, 2 x3hours a day barely feels like you are working but the efficiency is really high.
 
Oh, as D.P. asked - no commuting. I'll have to travel to meetings occasionally but they're more big trips and hotels than regular commutes. I'll be working from home for this. Which just makes having a clear routine even more important because I'll need to self-discipline throughout.
 
What I quite liked when I had more flexibility over my hours was doing normal hours through the bulk of the week but then on a Friday I was doing an early start - 5-6am and a compressed day so doing a 6 hour stint with bare minimum lunch break and then done for the day by noon - which really made the weekend feel longer and more relaxed.
 
Bang them all out Monday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, take 3 Day weekend.

Works well for a friend of mine, she basically hibernates Monday/Tuesday working very long hrs on these 2 days but always goes swimming every night 2100, eats then works till the early hrs again, its quite funny when people call her to do work on a Friday :)

All about getting into the routine,
 
Different people are most productive at different times of the day.
Some people find breaks important, some people find it hard to resume work after a break.
Some people want days off, especially if they have a family, some people prefer to spread their hours over more days.
Some people like to have a routine, some people like to work when inspired.

If it were me, I'd have no days off, I'd work when inspired, and I'd start early.

Figure out a routine that suits you.
 
h4rm0ny said:
Five days a week? Do you find you get a lot done afterwards and still enjoy your day?
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Sure do still plenty of time to get stuff done.
For now it allows me to pick my son up and go to the park before it goes dark, in summer it feels like I have a half day in work every day.
 
h4rm0ny said:
I'm currently thinking of either working long hours for four days and having a three day weekend. Or alternately splitting the two weekend days to have one day off on Wednesday for mid-week. And keeping the Saturday as a day off.

This is going to be a lot of work so I need something that is sustainable and will stop me having a break-down.
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Everyone will be different but personally I never liked having split days off where it is only 1 day - never really feels like a proper break even though it is never too far off a day off when you are working.
 
SPG said:
Bang them all out Monday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, take 3 Day weekend.

Works well for a friend of mine, she basically hibernates Monday/Tuesday working very long hrs on these 2 days but always goes swimming every night 2100, eats then works till the early hrs again, its quite funny when people call her to do work on a Friday :)
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I imagine that doesn't go well for the caller!

I quite like the idea of a couple of hyper-focused days. But I think that's the idealised fantasy version of myself I have in my head rather than the reality. After ten hours staring at the computer screen I'm not sure I'd still be effective. I think I could be though, if I worked up to that routine. I've worked very long hours before and been able to do it, but I've needed a clear day off the day after.
 
We have human factors here so I'm not sure that would allow such long days, were limited on overtime as well. If you look tired and start making mistakes you get sent home.
 
Rroff said:
What I quite liked when I had more flexibility over my hours was doing normal hours through the bulk of the week but then on a Friday I was doing an early start - 5-6am and a compressed day so doing a 6 hour stint with bare minimum lunch break and then done for the day by noon - which really made the weekend feel longer and more relaxed.
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A mid-day finish on Friday sounds very appealing. I think it would be nice in itself and I figure it might get the exhaustion part of the weekend where you just want to do nothing done and over with, meaning your Saturday just kicks in as a nice fresh day rather than an attempt to reclaim energy-debt from the week just gone.
 
You might need to try a few different hours/options and pick which works best for you, we're all different so ultimately can't give you the "answer" sadly.
 
Studies have shown that even hyper efficient/intelligent people can manage about 3-4 hours of non stop mentally demanding work before they start to slip up/drop off.

I would just try a few different routines with those hours and see what works best for you.
 
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