Help me choose my remote days - Thurs/Friday or Monday/Fri?

[Anonymous]

Office is rolling out new hybrid plan. All employees working remotely on Friday; all Fridays 1/2 days (“close” at noon). All employees have option of additional remote day on either Monday or Thursday. Tues/Wed everyone is required to be in office so those aren’t an option.

Which additional remote day would you choose, and why? Interested in hearing other people’s thoughts and rationale as it will help me think through the decision. For additional context, we have 4 kids at home from late elementary to high school age. Both parents work full time. Thank you to anyone willing to share your thoughts!

[Anonymous]

I'd want a remote day on Monday. It's hard getting kids to school on Mondays.

[Anonymous]

If you get federal holidays more of those are Mondays so you would be missing out on the advantage of working from home for those.

[Anonymous]

I’d be remote on Mondays if it wasn’t a big in-office meeting day.

[Anonymous]

I think it would be nice to start the week off at the office so you have momentum, then telework later in the week to finish stuff up.

If you typically grocery shop or run other errands later in the week, it would be easier if you're not commuting those days.

[Anonymous]

I would pick Thursday. I agree that there are enough Monday holidays that you'll wind up home for a lot of those.

[Anonymous]

I would choose telework Thurday/Friday. I like the back to back days cause then I get some momentum from being at home. I don't think I would get that with the weekend in between my telework days. If you commute isn't traffic generally lighter on Monday than on Thursday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be nice to start the week off at the office so you have momentum, then telework later in the week to finish stuff up.

If you typically grocery shop or run other errands later in the week, it would be easier if you're not commuting those days.

That was my thinking for my own schedule.

[Anonymous]

Being remote on Monday makes for a gentler start to the week. If you tend to dread Mondays, make this a remote workday as it will have the biggest impact on quality of life.

But if Mondays don't really bother you and you don't regularly get Sunday scaries (if you know, you know), I'd do Thursday because it allows you to transition to weekend mode more quickly. It's nice to feel like your commuting and dressing-for-work/packing lunches/etc. is done on Wednesday night.

So it just depends what you need. Those Sunday scaries are serious for some folks and Monday WFH can make a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you get federal holidays more of those are Mondays so you would be missing out on the advantage of working from home for those.

But if they are holidays, will OP work at all? She still won't work on those days. And we're only talking about ~4-5 days, I think.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Fortunately my commute isn’t terrible so the Mon vs. Thurs traffic probably doesn’t matter.

My current thinking: I kind of like the idea of getting organized on Monday and not going right back to rushing kids and self lit the door. I’m not too concerned about the Monday holidays as there aren’t too many of them (but of course whenever one of those weeks come up I’ll kick myself for not choosing a Thursday, ha). My other thought is that I don’t expect to see colleagues in person over the weekend, but I do expect to see them in person during the work week. So Th/Fri would somehow feel like missing two consecutive days of workplace contact whereas somehow Fri/Mon feels like it would only be one day since/until in-person work again. I just mentally block out the weekends.

I really appreciate hearing everyone’s thoughts though as it gives me more to think about as I work through the decision, so thank you!!

[Anonymous]

I work at home full time and getting started on Monday morning is always hard for me; I think it's better to have the office environment to kick you off and get things going. Once I've transitioned into "work mode" it's fine, but I miss having the cues of the workplace. But I realize this is personal.

[Anonymous]

I'd pick Thursday! Pre-pandemic, too, I had the option of being remote M-W-F or Tu/Th/ F. I chose the latter as it somehow makes for a more relaxed second half of the week. I can do some prep during my movement breaks to make weekend meals easier in between all the sports practices and kids activities, and I have more energy to start the work week.

[Anonymous]

I like being home on Mondays. Getting the kids out the door on Mondays is tough, so not getting myself office-ready too is helpful

[Anonymous]

My office is doing the same and I'm doing remote M & F. Two kids elementary school age and lots of teacher workdays fall on Mondays or Fridays, plus fed holidays.