Is working part time all that great?

[Anonymous]

I love it. Whether it is better than FT depends a bit on what "flexibility" looks like in your job. I never had as much flexibility as I wanted in my FT roles and felt trapped, so for me PT is so much more manageable and pleasant. I love having more control over my life and having life be more than just work.

[Anonymous]

The key to working part time is to make the actual number of days you work less, not just the hours.

It is just as much hassle and lost time to work 5 days per week for only 5 hours per day, for example, than to just stay the extra 3 for a full day. Commuting, getting up, getting dressed, preparing lunch and dinner, getting the kids situated, all of that is the same whether you work 5, 6 or 8 hours. And then coming home and trying to join in on any social thing or try to run errands before the rush hour traffic and crowd takes over.

The only way to make a part time job feel like a real difference is to decrease the days that you have to work, and then don't worry about the hours you are there. Work Tues Weds Thurs for 10 hours each day, it will be a hell of a lot better than every day for for 5 hours.

Otherwise, no, trying to leave a couple hours early is not that much of a difference to justify the loss of income and benefits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The key to working part time is to make the actual number of days you work less, not just the hours.

It is just as much hassle and lost time to work 5 days per week for only 5 hours per day, for example, than to just stay the extra 3 for a full day. Commuting, getting up, getting dressed, preparing lunch and dinner, getting the kids situated, all of that is the same whether you work 5, 6 or 8 hours. And then coming home and trying to join in on any social thing or try to run errands before the rush hour traffic and crowd takes over.

The only way to make a part time job feel like a real difference is to decrease the days that you have to work, and then don't worry about the hours you are there. Work Tues Weds Thurs for 10 hours each day, it will be a hell of a lot better than every day for for 5 hours.

Otherwise, no, trying to leave a couple hours early is not that much of a difference to justify the loss of income and benefits

I agree with this. I work 2 days a week and try to keep it to just that. My boss tried to convince me to add another day by working 2 other half days, or doing 6 hours another day, for which she'd prorate my daily rate, but I refused. I'd still have to get the kids ready and lose the most productive hours of a day at work, while getting paid less per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom did this. She was always passed over for promotions, travel,etc. her career never recovered, and she was the first let go when the company hit problems.

She also said that it was hard to feel like you were both a WOHM and SAHM, so no one really understood you and she didn't have a place in the mommy wars. Also, she wasn't enough of a SAHM for that crowd. But the WOHM crowd looked down on her, too.

This was 1980-99ish in a small town in flyover country. No idea if things are different here and now.

Folks have wised up, WOHM will not look down on her.

Yes, not being in sync w daily coffee and yoga will leave you out of sahm crowd

This is ridiculous. I work PT and all my SAHM friends are awesome and aren't ladies of leisure. Sure, we meet at coffee shops for maybe 2 seconds before we go do an activity with kids (because none of us are sleeping so we must caffeinate), but we all work hard and juggle a lot when caring for our kids. My colleagues are pretty envious, but most of them don't have kids yet so they don't really understand that it's not really a "break" on my off days. They don't, however, feel any ill will towards me... of course, I make myself available a lot for email and after hours to pick up more work. It's grueling. I get the best and worst of both worlds, but it's perfect for me.

I will say that some of my WOHM friends may be a bit less than generous about their feelings towards me, but I worked my ass off in my career for 16 years and am happy to ease off the gas pedal a bit. I am talented and hard-working and I know I can ramp up my career again when I'm ready.

OP, it depends on your field and how you envision life. I appreciate being able to really relax on the weekends because I can do shopping, cooking, cleaning during the week. I can't imagine having to do that Sat/Sun and then trying to fit in actual quality time with the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom did this. She was always passed over for promotions, travel,etc. her career never recovered, and she was the first let go when the company hit problems.

She also said that it was hard to feel like you were both a WOHM and SAHM, so no one really understood you and she didn't have a place in the mommy wars. Also, she wasn't enough of a SAHM for that crowd. But the WOHM crowd looked down on her, too.

This was 1980-99ish in a small town in flyover country. No idea if things are different here and now.

Folks have wised up, WOHM will not look down on her.

Yes, not being in sync w daily coffee and yoga will leave you out of sahm crowd

This is ridiculous. I work PT and all my SAHM friends are awesome and aren't ladies of leisure. Sure, we meet at coffee shops for maybe 2 seconds before we go do an activity with kids (because none of us are sleeping so we must caffeinate), but we all work hard and juggle a lot when caring for our kids. My colleagues are pretty envious, but most of them don't have kids yet so they don't really understand that it's not really a "break" on my off days. They don't, however, feel any ill will towards me... of course, I make myself available a lot for email and after hours to pick up more work. It's grueling. I get the best and worst of both worlds, but it's perfect for me.

I will say that some of my WOHM friends may be a bit less than generous about their feelings towards me, but I worked my ass off in my career for 16 years and am happy to ease off the gas pedal a bit. I am talented and hard-working and I know I can ramp up my career again when I'm ready.

OP, it depends on your field and how you envision life. I appreciate being able to really relax on the weekends because I can do shopping, cooking, cleaning during the week. I can't imagine having to do that Sat/Sun and then trying to fit in actual quality time with the kids.

It was clear In reference to the SAHM of elementary age children. You will see them every morning at drop off as they round up. It is a life of leisure, but if their DH is on board it's between the two of them. But a PT mom simply won't have the proximity of friendship, and will always be on the outside. These moms are like college roommates, they hang out 4-5 days a week! Without kids! PT mom sees them at pickup, maybe goes to park-- but with kids activities, home work, errands it likely isn't the same everyday rhythm. Read about friends of a certain age in my times; proximity is a huge factor in building friendships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who makes their own schedule i would say unless you have some goal (writing a novel, redoing a house, etc) I wouldn't. The free time starts getting really boring and grating.

Is this a joke? You must be an incredibly boring person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom did this. She was always passed over for promotions, travel,etc. her career never recovered, and she was the first let go when the company hit problems.

She also said that it was hard to feel like you were both a WOHM and SAHM, so no one really understood you and she didn't have a place in the mommy wars. Also, she wasn't enough of a SAHM for that crowd. But the WOHM crowd looked down on her, too.

This was 1980-99ish in a small town in flyover country. No idea if things are different here and now.

Folks have wised up, WOHM will not look down on her.

Yes, not being in sync w daily coffee and yoga will leave you out of sahm crowd

This is ridiculous. I work PT and all my SAHM friends are awesome and aren't ladies of leisure. Sure, we meet at coffee shops for maybe 2 seconds before we go do an activity with kids (because none of us are sleeping so we must caffeinate), but we all work hard and juggle a lot when caring for our kids. My colleagues are pretty envious, but most of them don't have kids yet so they don't really understand that it's not really a "break" on my off days. They don't, however, feel any ill will towards me... of course, I make myself available a lot for email and after hours to pick up more work. It's grueling. I get the best and worst of both worlds, but it's perfect for me.

I will say that some of my WOHM friends may be a bit less than generous about their feelings towards me, but I worked my ass off in my career for 16 years and am happy to ease off the gas pedal a bit. I am talented and hard-working and I know I can ramp up my career again when I'm ready.

OP, it depends on your field and how you envision life. I appreciate being able to really relax on the weekends because I can do shopping, cooking, cleaning during the week. I can't imagine having to do that Sat/Sun and then trying to fit in actual quality time with the kids.

It was clear In reference to the SAHM of elementary age children. You will see them every morning at drop off as they round up. It is a life of leisure, but if their DH is on board it's between the two of them. But a PT mom simply won't have the proximity of friendship, and will always be on the outside. These moms are like college roommates, they hang out 4-5 days a week! Without kids! PT mom sees them at pickup, maybe goes to park-- but with kids activities, home work, errands it likely isn't the same everyday rhythm. Read about friends of a certain age in my times; proximity is a huge factor in building friendships.

I'm perfectly happy with my PT life. I have friends I get to see (not daily, but maybe once a week or once every two weeks, which is more than I did when I worked FT). I still work most of most days. I don't want to spend every day at the park, I'm grateful to get there sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom did this. She was always passed over for promotions, travel,etc. her career never recovered, and she was the first let go when the company hit problems.

She also said that it was hard to feel like you were both a WOHM and SAHM, so no one really understood you and she didn't have a place in the mommy wars. Also, she wasn't enough of a SAHM for that crowd. But the WOHM crowd looked down on her, too.

This was 1980-99ish in a small town in flyover country. No idea if things are different here and now.

Folks have wised up, WOHM will not look down on her.

Yes, not being in sync w daily coffee and yoga will leave you out of sahm crowd

This is ridiculous. I work PT and all my SAHM friends are awesome and aren't ladies of leisure. Sure, we meet at coffee shops for maybe 2 seconds before we go do an activity with kids (because none of us are sleeping so we must caffeinate), but we all work hard and juggle a lot when caring for our kids. My colleagues are pretty envious, but most of them don't have kids yet so they don't really understand that it's not really a "break" on my off days. They don't, however, feel any ill will towards me... of course, I make myself available a lot for email and after hours to pick up more work. It's grueling. I get the best and worst of both worlds, but it's perfect for me.

I will say that some of my WOHM friends may be a bit less than generous about their feelings towards me, but I worked my ass off in my career for 16 years and am happy to ease off the gas pedal a bit. I am talented and hard-working and I know I can ramp up my career again when I'm ready.

OP, it depends on your field and how you envision life. I appreciate being able to really relax on the weekends because I can do shopping, cooking, cleaning during the week. I can't imagine having to do that Sat/Sun and then trying to fit in actual quality time with the kids.

Well, what you CAN'T IMAGINE is reality for many others.

nice going, genius

You really are a superstar in our eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a part time attorney - and it is definitely worth it to me. I'm on a 70% schedule, but with decent flexibility even within that schedule. So it means I can drop my son off at 8:45 when preschool starts (instead of dropping him off into the chaos of beforecare) and roll into work at 9:20 or so. Then I work, get in a 30-minute workout a couple times a week, leave by 4 and either pick up my son before aftercare starts at 4:30 or I can go do errands, or just have 20 minutes of alone time before picking him up. It means I can do the (many) dr appointments for both him and me, hair appointments, etc etc there is always something, and not worry about having to work 2 hours that night to keep my billable hours where they need to be. So it means I can fit all the crap that needs to get done (errands, appointments, work, working out) into a basic 9-5:30 work day and be home in time to make dinner every night without too much stress. It has not been a mommy track for me, as I have made it clear I am very focused on my career (made partner already, very focused on business development).

One complaint many attorneys who go part time have is that they are paid for 70% of their schedule but because of the demands on attorneys, they are working less than a 100% schedule but more than 70% - with admin expectations, and constant calls and emails on their "off time". you get to bill the time, but you feel like you're almost working full time still sometimes, even though the billable hours don't add up to that. Like, if you have to jump on to two 1-hour client calls on your day off (if you work 3 days a week), suddenly the day feels a lot more like a work day than a day-off, and you wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to go back to full time and get paid the extra 30%. That's the general complaint. And I have colleagues who barely work more than me but are technically full time - just not making their hours and no one is asking too many questions. And they've been advised not to make the switch to PT because you might as well keep getting paid for a full time schedule. I've weighed this decision, but when I do the math (husband makes around $500k, and I make around $250k) if I went full time it'd be another 100k or so, which is $60k after tax. Do I care about $60k in the grand scheme of our very high household income? I'd rather just stay PT, lose out on that potential cash, but not have any undue pressure to be working more than I do.

I'm this PP and wanted to add:

After my son was born, I went into a very PT job where I was only making like $45k for 8-10 hours a week from home. It barely covered childcare costs, but was still worth it to me because I did that for a couple years and kept my resume fresh, so that I was able to jump back into a more regular schedule when I was ready. So definitely worth it for me, even when it didn't really produce any extra cash in the bank.

omg, I'm a sahm, and if I got a 40hr/wk job I'd be lucky to get 45k. I'm jealous! If only I could get this working 8-10 hrs/week. sigh. I should get off dcum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who makes their own schedule i would say unless you have some goal (writing a novel, redoing a house, etc) I wouldn't. The free time starts getting really boring and grating.

Is this a joke? You must be an incredibly boring person.

No it's not, and if you listen to people who work from home, most say the same thing.

Hardly anyone can hang out during the day, so if your work is finished or you are waiting till later in the day to do it, say goodbye to socializing at all.

Then again, it has it's perks. But working in an office is exciting in a different way.

[Anonymous]

I like the shorter days at 5 days a week.

It means no before or aftercare.

It means less rushing in the morning and being able to take a beat and breathe when getting home.

It means we all can sleep in an hour later.

It means we can peacefully have homework going or playing happening while I prepare real meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the shorter days at 5 days a week.

It means no before or aftercare.

It means less rushing in the morning and being able to take a beat and breathe when getting home.

It means we all can sleep in an hour later.

It means we can peacefully have homework going or playing happening while I prepare real meals.

That last one should have included "in the early evening/late afternoon."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the shorter days at 5 days a week.

It means no before or aftercare.

It means less rushing in the morning and being able to take a beat and breathe when getting home.

It means we all can sleep in an hour later.

It means we can peacefully have homework going or playing happening while I prepare real meals.

+1. I wonder if the people pushing for 3 days a week have kids in school yet. My son started preschool at age 3 (he was desperately ready - so that's when I decided to go back to work, albeit PT on a 5-day schedule). If I was home 2 days a week, I think I would be insanely bored and probably whittle it away watching tv. And I'd probably end up doing more work those days than I otherwise should. Then I'd just be really tired the other three days when I was working. I like 5 days a week, because I squeeze in 5 days of working, making lunch, pick up and drop off, gym, coffee with colleagues, etc in a 9-5 schedule without any particular stress.

[Anonymous]

Left a PT job after 11 years for a FT for a lot of reasons. Hated the work of the PT job. I got all the terrible assignments because I was "PT," even though I basically worked full time. They shoved me in a crap office and expected me to be on call, emailing me and calling me at all hours. Now I more then doubled my salary and work M-F 8:30-4:40 5 minutes from the house and NEVER answer email after hours.

I think you have weigh the positions, not just the hours.