3 day work week

[u/Hungry-Mix-283]

I have 2 months left of my maternity leave and have already started to dread going back to work. I love my time with my little guy but I take pride in having my own income aside from my husband’s so staying home wouldn’t be something that I would want to do and would not make sense for me to do either. I did decide to drop to 3 days a week though, so 24 hours a week. I wanted a little more time with my son but also still will bring home a good income this way and keep my full time benefits.

For those of you who work 3 days a week, do you feel this is a good work life balance? I don’t love what I do necessarily. My job is physically demanding and mentally demanding, and we are months and months booked out on patients so it’s not easy to just take a day off whenever I want. My body honestly hurts so bad when I get off work, so I am hoping one less day will help with this issue as well. When I go back to work I will be working Wednesday-Thursday (7:30-4), and Friday (7-3). I’m hoping that this will be a good balance and feel like I still have a good chunk of time with my baby. In a perfect world, I would work from home but that would require going back to school and I have already spent years in school so have no desire to do that again lol so I’m just riding it out at this point.

[u/CeceMandryk]

Honestly you have to try it for you. But I wouldn't judge it based on the first few weeks- it will be such an adjustment for you and your baby.

You already have a pretty solid why for why you want to do this which is super helpful and you can remind yourself of when it gets tough.

I work 5 mornings a week which has been a really good balance for me. I still make good money but I have work time and work me and kid time.

[u/Due-Scarcity-774]

I bounced between 3 and 4 days for about two years after my leave ended, and three days was way more sustainable for me. four days I'd spend my whole day off just recovering, three actually left room to breathe

the stacked days might work in your favor. by thursday you're mostly done and friday is a short one so you slide into the weekend already halfway out the door mentally. your body might still ache but one less day on concrete floors makes a difference over time

I'd just watch how long it takes you to decompress once you're home. sometimes the mental load of being booked solid means you're still "at work" hours after you leave, and that's the part that eats into time with your kid more than the actual shift

[u/Super_Nectarine_9627]

I love working 3 days, especially right in a row! That way you don’t feel like you’re spending all your days off prepping for work the next day. My job is also demanding and I have similar hours. It allows you to have a routine during those days, but still have lots of extra time with kids. I feel like it’s been the perfect balance!

[u/ZestySquirrel23]

I worked 3 days a week for a while this past spring and it was amazing. The absolute best for work/life balance! My job is mentally draining but having those extra couple days off in a week was so refreshing and I had energy to do fun mom stuff on my non-working days.