Any thoughts on a 7a-3p work schedule?

[yesnice]

I am a full-time working mom (40 hours/week). I have two children in elementary school. Their school starts at 7:30 and finishes at 3:00. I am working at a Fortune 500 company in a hybrid arrangement with M and F working from home if preferred and T, W, Th we are supposed to be in the office. We also have a 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off but 9 hour days. I have usually dropped my kids off in the morning and then gone to work and then they are picked up from an after-school program whenever me or my partner can get there.

I am considering asking for a classic work schedule with 8-hr days and work every Friday in order to have more time with the kids in the evening (i.e. take them out of after school care). This would require me to leave work at 2:55 every day to make it to the school on time and have my partner bring them to school in the mornings. Has anyone tried a schedule like this and have any experiences with it? Do you think leaving by 3:00 would end up being too stressful in a classic corporate environment? They could always do drop-in after school care if needed.

My workplace is fairly flexible (especially since Covid) but high intensity and I tend to work with a lot of men, most with stay-at-home parents too so my modified work schedule might be more noticeable. Just seeking thoughts from other working moms about the pros and cons of giving up the every other Friday off for a shorter work day and whether plowing through lunch to get in my 8 hours would be helpful or a hindrance from a productivity standpoint.

 

[crawfojo14]

@yesnice My company offers flex scheduling so I've been working 7-3pm for the past couple years. When we were in office, it was definitely a challenge. It felt like someone always had a question right as I was packing up to leave so I ended up staying later than I would have with a traditional 9-5 but that was before the baby so I didn't have a hard stop.

Now that I'm WFH, it's kind of the dream. I can't imagine going back to traditional work hours.

 

[yesnice]

@crawfojo14 Thanks for your reply. Is a pretty dream schedule! I wish we were fully remote. They have been quite flexible since the hybrid model but it throws off the routine. Lots of moving parts on the office days!

 

[crawfojo14]

@yesnice They keep telling us that we'll be moving back to a hybrid schedule so I'm currently on the hunt for a full remote position. But I'm scared that I might have to give up my dream schedule!

 

[yesnice]

@crawfojo14 Gosh I know. Our hybrid start date kept getting pushed back with the different waves of covid. Had I known it would be a full two years of fully remote, I would have planned better for an official schedule during that period. I guess planning has been the one thing none of us have been able to do very well since this pandemic…hard on everyone but extra hard on working moms I think!

 

[heretostayy]

@yesnice Does your workplace have late afternoons meetings that could interfere with your plan? Depending on your commute time to the school and your level of involvement in the meeting, could you call in on your drive to participate?

I think a shorter workday would be nice and if showing up at 7 am means you are one of the first people in the office then you could potentially get more accomplished since you’ll have less interruptions. I think the main issue would be if coworkers/bosses respect that you are done for the day before them and try to keep contacting once you are home.

 

[yesnice]

@heretostayy My workplace sometimes has late afternoon meetings but I think ever since covid and our subsequent return to hybrid, people don’t schedule things quite as late…I think everyone recognized the benefit of not commuting through rush hour so some people leave a bit earlier and then maybe log back in during the evening to finish up project work. Generally my meeting involvement is on the higher end and requires speaking to slides, etc. so it’s not super portable but that’s not the case with every meeting.

 

[dksigsys]

@yesnice I have worked that schedule and enjoyed it, but it requires setting firm boundaries. You will get a lot of emails and quick questions as you leave, and lots of meeting requests for after you leave. Most people I have worked with over the last decade work through lunch most days unless going out to eat with others.

 

[yesnice]

@dksigsys Thanks for the reply. Is most of your office working a total of 8 hours straight without a lunch. If so, did you find that helped or hindered your productivity?

 

[dksigsys]

@yesnice Most of work 9/80, some work 8 hours and some do 4/10s. I see no difference in productivity when people work through lunch or not. I don’t notice an obvious change in my productivity when I work through lunch or not. If I do it, it’s because I’m busy and distracted, so I get more done that day, but it averages out over the long run. This sounds overly simplistic, but through 4 different jobs and moving up the ladder, I have noticed that productive people are productive and non-productive people aren’t. Schedules and personalities vary, but at the end of the day productive people get work done one way or another.

 

[yesnice]

@dksigsys Thanks…such a good perspective. You are totally right!

 

[beckiwantingjesus]

@yesnice I loved 7:30-3:30. Mornings are a bitch wether it’s leaving the house by 6:15 or 8:30, if an alarm wakes me up, it sucks. I found getting off early I was more inclined to do things, I cooked more often, we would go on little after school adventures to the hardware store. Also it’ll make a big difference when daylight savings hits. I absolutely hate getting home when it’s already dark.

Compared to my 10am-6pm schedule, getting up isn’t easier, but coming home is harder.

 

[azatinga]

@yesnice In my office, 7-3 is a very workable schedule. We are wfh now since the beginning of covid, but I've been working there for 15 years and that entire time a friend/coworker of mine worked that schedule so he could pick up his kids, and everyone just accepted it. He never seemed particularly stressed from the schedule. In fact, arriving early allowed him to get some great heads down time in before people started bothering him with questions.
Do you have a lot of meetings after 3? Are there tasks that need completed at specific times?

 

[yesnice]

@azatinga Often times things get scheduled after 3:00 but I think if everyone was aware of my schedule and I was firm and outspoken about it, that would help. For better of for worse, I now also have the option to log in from home if very necessary. I’m more worried about the meetings that get scheduled from like 2-4 because it’s quite a technical role that I couldn’t quite transfer the call to “on the road”

 

[jerryperry]

@yesnice That's my exact ideal schedule. Now just to see how to make it happen....

 

[amyf90]

@yesnice I used to do this when I worked at Starbucks as a manager and I really loved it.

It gave me time to get dinner ready and actually spend some time with my kid instead of just coming home rushing to do dinner and then do bath and bed routine.

I don’t have any experience in a classic corporate environment, but now that I’ve shifted back to a 9 to 5 I absolutely hate it. I feel like my entire afternoon is just rushed.

 

[yesnice]

@amyf90 Yes and all the traffic and everything is worse trying to run around at that time too. Hope you can find a way to shift back to your preferred schedule one of these days!

 

[vansoffthewall]

@yesnice I actually work 8-5 but my team is based in a different time zone so it's 7-4 for them. The first hour of the day is wonderful. I can do whatever I need to without interruption.

If you can do it, do it!

 

[alberto_candelaria]

@yesnice I work for a corporate office, and I’ve worked 7-3 for the last six years. It’s really my perfect schedule. I really enjoy having 5-6 hours every afternoon/evening that I can dedicate to family stuff or to me time, depending. Especially this last 2.5 years of working from home… it’s excellent.

 

[berthaintan]

@yesnice I agree with the others. This is a great schedule that I did for years. I recently changed jobs and now work a 9/80. They are long days, but I'm loving having a day to myself every two weeks. I work 6am to 4pm with two 30-minute breaks to get the kids on and off the bus.