A viral social media post has now sparked a debate online over whether working 2pm to 10pm could actually be a better deal than the traditional 9-to-5. And, honestly, the argument is making a lot of people rethink the entire workday.
What if your morning was actually yours?
The employee behind the viral post argued that working from 2 pm to 10 pm allowed them to avoid the classic post-work “zombie mode” that hits after a long day. Instead of finishing work at 5 or 6 pm, coming home exhausted and spending the rest of the evening scrolling on your phone, the later shift means your mornings are completely free.
So want to deal with some boring government paperwork that requires you to physically show up somewhere during office hours? And suddenly, your work schedule is working in your favour.
The employee said the quieter mornings made errands, appointments, workouts and household chores much easier to handle. Basically, while everyone else is stuck in traffic and pretending they are not late for work, you are already checking things off your list.
The 2-to-10 shift could fix the ‘after-work exhaustion’ problem
One of the biggest arguments for the later shift is surprisingly simple: you can actually sleep properly. The employee, who works remotely from Spain on US time, said being able to sleep shortly after finishing work was “magical”. And that is where the 2-to-10 schedule gets interesting.
With a traditional 9-to-5, your day doesn’t really end when you log off. You still have dinner, chores, communing, social commitments and approximately 47 notifications waiting for you. By the time you are finally free, your brain is basically saying, Absolutely not. The 2-to-10 schedule flips that routine.
You can wake up naturally, have a slow breakfast, exercise, run errands and actually feel like a functioning human being before work starts. Then, once work ends at 10 pm, you can wind down and go to sleep. No post-work commute followed by three hours of lying on the sofa wondering where your personality went.
Social media reacts to the viral post online
As soon as the post surfaced on the internet, it sparked a debate and discussion. A user wrote, “As someone who also did similar hours in my 20s, the benefits OP listed were real, but there were downsides too. The main downside being that since my partner and the majority of my friends didn’t work that schedule, I missed out on almost all weekday socialising, including family dinners and evening events. Now that wouldn’t be the case if everyone worked those hours, but then a lot of the benefits, such as reduced commute and offices being open, would go away. If you have kids in school, these hours are brutal since you’ll pretty much never see them.”
Image credit : Pexels | Why Some Workers Think the 2-to-10 Shift Is Actually Better
While one pointed out, “I worked that shift for 2 years mostly because it paid a differential. I loved it, but you’re right. I missed out on all the lunch outings with these in my office, all the city specials for folks who worked where I did, and any outings my friends did after work. But I made an extra $300 a week, so totally worth it. The best part was no traffic.”
“I used to work 1pm-8pm, and while those benefits are real, it kind of felt like your life was just work. That “free time” in the morning just feels like waiting to start work more than actual free time, and then you get home at 8pm and the day’s over. Even though it’s the same technically I guess, a 9-5 feels like all the hours after 5 are your hours to do with as you please, but the morning hours of an afternoon job just feel like pre-job hours… which is why I started hating that schedule,” one shared.
While another added, “10am-6pm or 11am-7pm was always my favourite shift for this reason when I was younger. Can go out and party and/or just stay up til 1 or 2 am and still get 8 hours of sleep. And at that age I typically wouldn’t have much going on in those early evening hours; I was at work,” and more such comments followed.
