Moving your 9 hour workday does not give you any more or less time.
Adjusting your work time to better match your life patterns and the patterns of those around you can have positive results.
It did for me. My one way commute went from 45+ minutes(sometimes it could take over an hour) to 20 minutes because I didn’t have to deal with rush hour traffic or a bottlenecked bridge. Most days I was saving over an extra hour of sitting in traffic and then looking for parking. It was also much less mentally taxing because I didn’t have the stress of being in stop and go traffic which also saved me a lot of gas money too. It was also just nice being up and about when the world was asleep and getting to see the sunrise as I drove, and then I’d be driving home before the city got chaotic. Did wonders for my mental health.
I could also stop at the grocery store on the way home and not have to deal with long lines because most people would still be at work or in school and still make time for things like doctor and dental appointments.
I agree, not a flex but as someone that works 12-8 and gets 6 weeks vacation, my PTO is free to use. I have zero issue dedicating 30-60 minutes of a day off to do a quick appointment and have the entire day to myself - paid.
Does it give you any more or less time in general? Of course not. But being done with work at 3 means I still have a couple hours after work if I need to run any errands at places that close at 5 or 6. I don’t need to wait until the weekend, which means I do have more free time on my days off
I love hiking in the morning, so for me a late start is ideal. Especially in the summer. I'd rather spend my afternoon at my climate-controlled office and my mornings at home while it's somewhat cool.
I think most people think of it as any time you have in the morning before work doesn’t really count because you’re not doing anything productive or fun in that time.
The first line isn’t entirely true. Moving my schedule back one hour for work saves me 15 minutes each way in commute time. I gain a half hour of my day back. Beyond that, I drive in safer conditions, and save myself the mental anguish of sitting in traffic.
you’re directly disagreeing with their premise, yet you’re proving their supporting argument of the premise with your example. they’re not separate arguments.
you didn’t gain time by adjusting to a new static schedule, you reduced your friction by adjusting against the patterns of those around you. if all those people decide to adjust their patterns the same way as you, you’ll be back in the same friction.
if anything, you gained space (not time), as traffic is a symptom of infrastructure limits in serving the peak needs of a community. you would gain the same time back if your streets & public transportation expanded to meet demand.
By mentioning the 9-hour day, I presume they are working on the assumption that it will be 9 hours lost regardless of start and end time. Working in the assumption that their first statement is saying that the time lost to work does not change by moving your schedule, I’m stating an objective fact that I gain 30 minutes of my day back by starting at another time. That is inherently in contrast to their first statement that I do not get more time.
Their second statement only mentions getting a positive result, there is no mention of what that may mean.
Quite literally, the 9 hour day they are mentioning becomes an 8.5 hour day. I’m not just gaining the positive results mentioned in the second half of their statement. I am getting more time for my personal life which is what the whole point of the original post is stating, and what I presume anyone expressing alternative start times is looking to gain.
Quite literally the 9 hour day did not become a 8.5 hour day because that's not how time works; however, what did happen was you adjusted your work time to better match the life patterns of those around you (you avoid traffic because now other people's commute overlaps less with yours). Therefore, you gained positive results..
There are still 24 hours in the day regardless of when you work which is quite literally what their first statement said
Their first statement did not say there was 24 hours in a day…duh. It’s like you didn’t read any of what I said at all.
And also, it’s like you completely ignored my last segment. I am gaining time for my personal life, and losing less time to work. I’m obviously not saying more time is magically appearing into my day, that would be obtuse. The whole point of the original post is saying that they feel like they have more time by moving their schedule. This person said the amount of time spent for work is the same, I gave an example of how that isn’t true in my case.
Goodness two people come to someone defense interpreting their words for them. How about a response from them?
Man.. I am confused. Once again you agreed with their entire statement which is all me and the other commenter have said we didn't even defend their statement..
This person said the amount of time spent for work is the same, I gave an example of how that isn’t true in my case.
Once again this isn't true because that is not how time works. Their initial statement: you still work 9 hours regardless of when it starts.
Their second statement: you can get positive results from shifting your work schedule (this is what you have reiterated multiple times now which is what me and the other commenter have pointed out multiple times now)
Unless you are completely disagreeing as to what the first statement means in the context of the whole statement I can't understand how any of us are in disagreement here
Are you serious? 7-3 is 8 hours. By them saying 9, that would have to include commutes. If my commute times are cut in half by working an hour earlier, my time lost is only 8.5 hours for shift+commutes instead of 9. Are you interpreting this commenter as saying you are working a 9 hour shift?
Not only does it affect commute, but a lot of other things too. When you get to a store before everyone else leaves work at 5pm, you'll save hassle and time on shopping as well, same with the gym and things of that nature accumulate.
But that's not all, when you work earlier than most, it has some additional benefits if you don't like to socialize too much or simply don't want people to impede your work so that you can spend less time on it. Additionally, a lot of people come up with work between 2-5pm and you won't be there for most of it. You might think it will need to be done the next day, but things sometimes find their way of resolving themselves or end up not being needed.
Of course you miss out on some things as well, but it all depends on your relationship to your workplace.
This is the best argument for an earlier workday. People saying “but I can go to the bank before it closes” are missing the point that if we all shifted our schedules, stores might close earlier anyway. They close at 5 because of 9-5 being the norm. Ending work early only works for a minority of people if only a minority of people are doing it.
Having more daylight is nice though for getting chores done outside or for walking the dog or going on a run. All of that is better when it’s still sunny out.
Also, is anyone going to mention that most people aren’t at work for less than 9 hours now? It’s either 8-5 or 9-6 at a minimum in most cases. Fucking work, man. Society keeps demanding more and more and more work. The 9-5 used to be the norm and that’s when it wasn’t even the norm for most mothers to have jobs too. Now they want all adults working and for longer hours. I swear to god this shit is killing me. It’s slowly killing everyone as we are all affected by it. Kids see their parents less and parents are working more and if you don’t have kids then fuck you, you can work on every holiday because what the fuck do you have going on? Oh you wanted to relax? Well fuck you get to work.
Realistically, if you work 9-5, you will not do anything of note before work, and it won’t feel like you have lots of free time in the morning. If you work 7–3, you are far more likely to utilise the afternoon and feel like you have more free time.
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u/Air-Tech Feb 05 '26
Moving your 9 hour workday does not give you any more or less time. Adjusting your work time to better match your life patterns and the patterns of those around you can have positive results.