Hi CrabbitDutchie. No I don't think so, providing you will have enough to do bearing in mind the lockdown. I don't know what your normal out of work activities look like, but providing you have plenty to occupy yourself with then it sounds like an ideal opportunity to reduce your hours and benefit from a bit of a break.
I vote do it. Being it is definitely a financial accomplishment to be able to afford it. FART away!
Make sure you don't spend your new free time in the office not working though! Are you looking for suggestions for motivation for working from home also?
Think about your energy and focus levels and match them to your tasks. I can work for hours on something difficult and interesting early in the morning before I've been caught up in questions and emails. I can do dull tasks in the afternoon as long as they are small enough, or if I have a call scheduled it'll give be an energy boost.
I can't see why not either. It's temporary, it may help you with motivation, you won't need the money. Now you are staying in you may save even more money than your normal savings rate. I can imagine you are right that few parents will be able to afford this. And now you get the extra PR benefit of not being a lazy parttimer but a dedicated employee who has made sacrifices for the company.
Good opportunity for you, and a way to get something positive out of the current situation. Only thing to add is your reduction in wage will be less than 20%, as the extra earnings you are losing will currently be fully taxed, even more so if you are higher rate payer.
If the economy gets hit really badly then I don't want the regret of looking back and say that I didn't make the most of my employment situation while I was still able to. I guess I'm adopting a "hope for the best, plan for the worst" mindset.
It's strange how different people can come at the same situation from different angles and come up with opposite yet entirely logical conclusions.
In my view, with everything shut down the opportunity cost of working right now is much lower than it would otherwise be. I mean, it's not like there's the opportunity to backpack around the world or go on that 3 month cruise that you've always been promising yourself. You can't even go to the pub on a whim.
Stuck at home getting paid to work, or stuck at home picking your nose.. I'll reluctantly take the first option.
Stuck at home getting paid to work, or stuck at home picking your nose.. I'll reluctantly take the first option.
Let me make the case for taking Wednesday off, instead of Friday, and see if you agree:
With Friday off, you still have a 4 day work week. Your weekend grew slightly, but it was already a break from work.
Change that to Wednesday off: now you have 2 days of work and a break, then another 2 days of work. You get to relax every 3rd day.
For 8 years before I retired I worked 4 days a week (I got paid for 4 and a half days because slightly long days) and took Mondays off. Added to retirement it means I haven't had the Monday morning blues for nearly two decades. Perhaps more importantly I haven't had to listen to anyone else complain about Monday mornings for nearly two decades.
Workwise I found Mondays off worked very well: there are very few deadlines on a Monday to miss or have to bring forward as against a Friday, and not being in on Mondays gives colleagues time to realise they need your input on something but will have to wait for it, boosting one's perceived value to the organisation.
opinions are good :)
I actually think Monday might be better for me (I am taking Fridays off, but was just a little taken aback when it was assumed or known without me saying anything).
I'll give it another couple of weeks though and make the switch halfway through if I do