Of course, just because elastic schedules are popular with employees doesn't mean they're equally a hit with bosses. To make a good case for working nontraditional hours, I suggest you first assess the possible objections to your doing so. For example, does your job involve contacting customers and suppliers whose own hours fall inside that 9-to-5 window? Does it include other duties considered best performed during that particular time slot? Generate as many questions like these as you can, along with substantive answers for each one.

Once you have those items in hand, sit down with your boss. Explain you would like to work a different schedule and present him or her with the list of possible challenges and solutions. To further sell the idea, suggest various metrics that would indicate if you're performing effectively. By accounting for the possible objections to your working outside the usual times and offering ways to evaluate your efforts, you may find that your manager is just as flexible as the hours you'd prefer to spend in the office. E