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A comment on Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week....

Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by cubicle67 on Thursday December 30, 2010 @07:28AM (#2052024)
I work between 25 and 30 hours a week. I don't earn a great income, especially compared to figures mentioned here, but it's enough to pay the bills and I'd rather spend more time at home than at work.

It works because we have a very modest house with an equally modest mortgage. We own the car, my wife runs a very tight budget and we don't have many other outgoings. Our largest expense (greater than the mortgage payments) are school fees; we send our 4 kids to a Montessori school but we're happy to pay the money because we can afford it (just) and it's something we both strongly believe in

The downside to the extra time I have, is that I haven't exactly used it wisely - in fact I've mostly squandered it, which makes me sad looking back at the year gone by.

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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by Xurinos on Thursday December 30, 2010 @01:37PM (#2053135)
The downside to the extra time I have, is that I haven't exactly used it wisely - in fact I've mostly squandered it, which makes me sad looking back at the year gone by.

I have been thinking about this myself, and I realized something: This squandering that I am doing... I WANT to squander. I want that playtime or whatever. It was what I enjoy at that time. Is it truly time wasted?

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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by hessenwolf on Thursday December 30, 2010 @03:58PM (#2053590)
I did a PhD, a postdoc, and I worked from home for a little while. Home time mostly seems unproductive. I find it useful not to regret and just to try and do a little bit more each day.
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by lkrubner on Thursday December 30, 2010 @06:07PM (#2053876)
It depends what you mean by "regret". Some reflection on the mistakes you made is necessary to correct your course and move in the right direction.
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by hessenwolf on Saturday January 01, 2011 @10:22AM (#2057716)
Okay, i'll buy that. Reflection without regret and self recrimination.
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by oscardelben on Thursday December 30, 2010 @07:46AM (#2052061)
Don't worry about the past. What can you do from now on with the extra time?
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by cubicle67 on Thursday December 30, 2010 @07:57AM (#2052074)
perhaps not spend my Thursday evening on HN? :)
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by SkyMarshal on Thursday December 30, 2010 @08:48AM (#2052155)
Sideproject! Expose yourself to the possibility of serendipity, no matter how remote. :)
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Re:Oooh - I'd kill for a four day week... by pavel_lishin on Thursday December 30, 2010 @02:55PM (#2053401)
Who was it that said, "The time you enjoyed wasting wasn't wasted"?
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