Released On 11 May 2026
Kira's blog: The Perfectly Imperfect Four-Day Week
Balancing motherhood and career through a four-day working week.
As my maternity leave with my first child drew to an end, I was floored by the idea that I was going to go from spending every day with my precious child to suddenly only seeing her for breakfast and bedtime five days a week. Would she still remember who I was after all those days apart? Would she start to favour nursery staff over me? These might have been emotional rather than rational fears, but the pressure it could put on weekends to be perfect, memory-making days felt enormous.
So when the email came through from HR to say I should discuss with my manager what my schedule would look like upon my return, I realised there was a way to protect some of that family time. I wasn’t working towards any particular promotion at the time and I knew that while I did still want to pursue my career, right now my priorities lay with my new family. I spoke with my manager and agreed on a four-day working structure for my return.
As I reflect on that decision five years on, I can see that a four-day week is not a silver bullet. From a financial perspective, dropping down to four days might not have been the most sensible option, but even if it is not perfect, it has definitely given me the extra time I wanted with my children. I may be feeling the pinch of a 20% pay reduction, but I have found that this extra day has given our family and my career a new rhythm that works for us.
The Reality of an Extra Day
With just one child, my non-working Mondays were spent at soft-play or visiting family and friends, trips to the zoo or DUPLO spread across the living room floor. Some of the other mums in our NCT group were off work on the same day so we would band together for picnic lunches at the splash park in summer or share countless packets of biscuits over steaming mugs of tea in each other’s living rooms as our little ones played at our feet. Of course there was housework, meal prep and laundry to be slotted in but I felt this day was so important for building a connection with my daughter and without putting too much of a rose-tint on it all, they did often feel idyllic.
When my second child was born those Mondays became more fraught. With an almost three-year age gap there were few activities I could successfully do with both girls. Trying to fit outings around conflicting nap schedules and make sure we didn’t just spend the whole day stuck in the house was tricky but I continued to enjoy the fact we had a day to ourselves and as they’ve got older it’s all become easier.
Making it Work
Looking back, the ease of moving to a four-day week surprises me greatly and I realise how fortunate I was to be able to make this change. Many pieces fell into place at the same time: we had just come out of the Covid epidemic and the world had proved that flexible working could still be productive, plus I had a supportive manager who was a new father himself and understood the need to rebalance life after starting a family. While it seemed like my request was simply granted, I can see that four-day weeks don’t just happen, they require a supportive environment.
I’ve moved into a new team since returning from that initial mat-leave and my colleagues are now spread across EMEA and America. This has led to another change in working style, as I’m now almost fully remote with only the occasional day in the office. While no-one else I work immediately with works part-time, I don’t feel any sense of judgement and in fact everyone has been incredibly supportive of my work pattern. I do feel a pang of guilt when I have to ask someone to reschedule a meeting because I don’t work Mondays but that seems to be an internal pressure I place on myself because no-one has ever responded negatively to those requests.
I’m quite disciplined about not letting work creep into my non-working day. There are meetings I could attend with my camera off and my toddler on my knee but that would set a dangerous precedent and isn’t fair on my toddler; this day is about her and she shouldn’t have to sit through that. However, this year I have found myself spending the odd hour while she naps responding to emails or just finishing off a task to set myself up better for the week ahead. At the moment this works for me, it makes me feel more at ease, plus it’s a particularly busy time at work with a project about to go live, but it’s something I need to keep an eye on and make sure it doesn’t creep.
A Different Rhythm
I do feel that working four days a week I’m just as productive as I was five days a week in the office pre-Covid. Working remotely means no time lost to the commute. I can log in as early as school drop-off will allow and be working straight away. There are no water-cooler conversations to distract me and no shops to browse on my lunch break. Other than a quick break to make a sandwich and hang out a load of laundry, my days are fairly solidly booked with meetings and work actions. So although I’m working fewer days, I feel they are more intense.
And while I would say there hasn’t been a huge impact on my ability to get my job done, there definitely has been a big impact on my family life. I don’t feel pressure to make every second of the weekend count and fall into the trap of over-scheduling us all. We can relax at home, go on outings or see friends and things like swimming lessons and the Tesco delivery can be scheduled for a Monday so they don’t encroach on family time. For my husband, who still works five days (three in the office), this means he also benefits from the new rhythm of our family life. Weekends really do mean downtime with family rather than trying to fit in errands and appointments.
If I had to make the choice again to move to a four-day week I would definitely give it more thought than I did the first time. In my emotional state as a new mother coming to the end of her first maternity leave I jumped at the chance without giving it much thought beyond the fact I’d get an extra day with my child. I would certainly have some more serious financial conversations with my husband (yes, it makes sense now but what if we have another child and another lot of nursery fees to pay?). But ultimately I would make the same decision. Those Mondays with my girls are precious, I will never regret having more time with them and with this new rhythm I’ve been able to also keep up my career and enjoy a perfectly imperfect balance.
Kira is a Product Manager, wife, mum of two young girls and a lover of books, good stationery and a well-organised calendar.
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