I am currently enjoying this. Work between 25-30 hours, and my salary was reduced by 25%. I am thinking about reducing it more and working less hours.

It is quite tricky though. You want to work 4 hours a day for someone, not 6, because by the time you are done with 6 you usually need a transition period and before you know it you are feeling tired.

I agree. I started contracting recently. At first I imagined getting 7-8 hours of billable work in every day. The reality is I've been able to do 4 - 5 hours of billable work every day before feeling burnt out and a bit crazy.

Depends. Am I salaried or hourly? If I'm hourly, I guess that's just the way it works. If I'm salaried, how is it that I can be expected to put in 50% more hours for 0% more pay, but if I want to work less hours I have to take a pay cut?

It seems to me that programmers simply aren't paid according to the hours they put in.

>They're looking to maximize take-home pay.

Within the limits of "what they already know how to do" and of "what risks they are willing to take." That is why there are so few creative and self-employed types - most people would far rather work longer hours than have to learn anything new or take any real risks.

Salary is only half of your compensation- the other half is benefits. Employers don't often do half weeks for salaried employees with benefits because you are getting 50% of the work for 75% of the cost.