Flextime!

A few months ago, my boss (who is a former UK Ambassador to Spain) half jokingly/half seriously suggested that we adopt the Spanish tradition of summer hours.  This would mean closing the office for a few hours each afternoon to take a siesta and then working later into the evening.  Needless to say, because I have a 45-minute commute each way on the tube and going home during siesta would not be an option for me, I vetoed this idea.  

I did suggest that we adopt the great American idea of flextime.  He seemed very excited about this idea, but we never really followed through with it.   The more I thought about it, however, the more I thought that this would be a really great schedule for me.  For those of you who don’t know about flex time, basically you work an hour more each day and then you get every other Friday off.  This is great for me for two reasons.  1:  my commute to work is MISERABLE.  The London tube at rush hour is just about the most miserable thing I’ve ever experienced.  By leaving home half an hour earlier and coming back half an hour later, I avoid the worst of rush hour.  2:  Three day weekends mean huge traveling possibilities.  In three days, we could go to Spain, or France, or really anywhere.    

So, I have now initiated flextime at my office.  It’s fabulous.  I had this Friday off and, while we didn’t travel anywhere, I did get some shopping done that is normally miserable to do on weekends (because, once again, London is overcrowded), watched a movie, and, most importantly, got to sleep in! 

In two weeks, when I have another Friday off, we’re planning a trip to Budapest.