Early finishes

[misterhelpful]

I have just finished my week's work and only now realised that, since being here in the US, I haven't had ANY early finishes.
I'm not complaining but, even though I am effectively still my own boss over here, I work the same number of hours every week, whereas in the UK I would sometimes do a few less per week by knocking it on the head an hour or so early and would mostly aim to finish by 3pm (or earlier) on a Friday.

I've figured out that, because I'm now 'out in the country', we work farmers hours, which means starting at 7am and finishing at 4pm (most kids have to be at the bus stop at 6am!!), basically meaning I get in from work about an hour earlier than I would have on a full working day in the UK. This sounds like it should work out as getting around five extra hours a week to do things, but it doesn't because I go to bed an hour earlier every night to get up earlier than I used to.

The reason for my post is that I still seem to have more time to do everything outside of work here (even though I have a lot more to do) compared to back home, so I'm now wondering what I used to do in those spare hours. I'm not really a TV watcher, other than sport at the weekend, so it can't be that. I also spent less time running around in the UK to get to shops, events, appointments, etc, so:

Does an 'early finish' mean I would have been just bumming around, doing nothing in particular, and wasted all of those hours? (Hope not!)
Does getting up earlier actually seem to give you more time in the day to get things done, even though you are awake for the same amount of time?
Have any of you found the same thing after switching jobs/shifts?
Are early finishes actually worth it, or am I just missing something obvious?

Please enlighten me.

Cheers,
mrH

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I only ever finish early if I am going to the pub, so works for me!

 

[longdogs]

What's the travelling like over there? I find if I am working in London, any early finish is negated by a long stint in a traffic jam.

 

[JBR]

What's the travelling like over there? I find if I am working in London, any early finish is negated by a long stint in a traffic jam.

The M60 is exactly the same. Several years ago they spent a number of years widening that road from two lanes to three, during which time the traffic was appalling. For a few years afterwards there was an improvement but things rapidly deteriorated. Now they are spending years in making it a 'smart' motorway, again with a consequent mass of congestion. The problem is that they lack foresight and I'm confident that any short term improvement will be followed by further 'sticking plaster improvements' along with the inevitable speed limits and traffic jams.
Thankfully, I rarely have to contend with rush hour traffic since I retired.
Why don't more companies allow or even encourage flexible working hours?

 

[handyjack]

Before I retired being self employed allowed me to start and finish as it suited me.

Living where I do, a traffic jam would consist of three cars in front of me.

 

[misterhelpful]

What's the travelling like over there? I find if I am working in London, any early finish is negated by a long stint in a traffic jam.

The highways around me are generally about the same as UK motorways (with seemingly even more roadworks) but the smaller roads are a little quieter than those of the town I lived in over there. Although, as I said, I spent less time running around in the UK so it can't be down to traffic.

I'm starting to think that maybe I spent a lot of time than I realised rabbiting to friends and neighbours, because that something I don't seem to do here. That said, I'm not really much of a gossiper....ooh, did you see what that clown from number 37 was doing last night....I reckon he's dealing dru...

Oops!

 

[conny]

I used to work 8.00am to 4.30pm plus overtime most days, (usually at least 2 hours), and never had time for myself or anyone else.
Transferred to another branch across the country and started working 6.00am to 2.00pm and suddenly felt as though each day was a half working day! I had time to come home, do some gardening, diy, shopping etc.
Then they changed the shift patterns and now I am back on 8.00-4.30 and don't seem to have time to get home, get a shower, have dinner and its bed-time!

Give me early starts and finishes any day.