Question for moms: did going part-time solve your work-life balance problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes it does. But you will still feel busy every day. Don't take on more volunteer commitments like room mom, etc., because you think you have more time. You really don't. You will have more time to take care of chores and go to appointments, though, which is nice.

PP and wanted to echo this. I have one in middle and one in elementary. With different schedules and after school activities, household stuff, days off from school, etc. there is not significant downtime.

[Anonymous]

I've only ever been part-time (about to go back full-time, actually). The only catch is - your family expectations CAN expand to fill the time you free up from work. Which means you can stay just as busy, if you let it happen. But for me, I like being busy with family stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely yes. But it’s ACTUALLY part time-it’s quota based so I do half as much work as a full time person for half as much pay (and reduced benefits coverage.). Many other friends that tried to part time in less structured jobs took a pay cut but only ended up working slightly less. With three kids and without part time and telework I could not do this without a full time live in nanny. I have seen an au pair work for some families, it can be hot or miss. I feel the pain of leaving 50k on the table every year and I hope I made the right call for my kids. We bought on one income so house is not our worry but college funds are.

+1. I tried it and went back to full time. My workload didn’t decrease by the same percentage so I felt more stressed as I wasn’t able to get it done in the time needed. May as well get paid full time since it didn’t make much of a difference in my case. I have friends who love it but those seem to be people like psychologists, doctors, etc where they have some agency in determining their workload, taking fewer patients, or nurses, who could work fewer shifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not for me. I ended up being paid for 20 hours but working closer to 35-40 hours per week. This was less than I would have otherwise, but very far from half time. It only works if you actually work half time.

Me, too, but it was my problem. I just couldn't let it go. I was always a high performer and hard a time just turning it off after my hours were over.

What ended up happening was I just quit for a year, then went back PT to a different project where I really wasn't needed FT.

[Anonymous]

I work 24 hours a week (hospital) and I love it. I have time with my kids, my house is clean, cook from scratch. But I can never get promoted in this situation and I have am unambitious husband who never gets promoted either. So I'm probably going to have to hustle soon. It's going to be bad for my mental health.

[Anonymous]

I'm freelance/contract-based writer and working about 15-20 hours a week has been great for our family. I have enough time to give my kids (one in elementary, one in middle) support that they need to be really successful in school, our family life is very stress-free since I am available for things like sick days, doctors appointments, school events, I have projects that keep my mind occupied and bring in income and keep me connected to the professional world, and if I want to go back FT one day, having a resume with no gaps will help.

Managing my schedule so house/kid obligations don't creep into work time has been the hardest part of this. Leaving the house to work helps.

[Anonymous]

It did for me. When our four kids were in elementary school, I worked part-time during the school year. My hours were 9:00 - 2:30. I dropped them off at school and got off in time to pick them up.

The hours gave me enough time to help with homework, fix dinner, and get them to after-school activities without feeling completely burned out. It was the next best thing to being a SHM without losing out on having a career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It did for me. When our four kids were in elementary school, I worked part-time during the school year. My hours were 9:00 - 2:30. I dropped them off at school and got off in time to pick them up.

The hours gave me enough time to help with homework, fix dinner, and get them to after-school activities without feeling completely burned out. It was the next best thing to being a SHM without losing out on having a career.

What job let you have those hours?

[Anonymous]

I've always been part time hourly averaging 16-24 hours since kids, but occasionally have to work 40 hours for a few weeks and end up feeling very disconnected from family life and family members.

My work has been different at different times. It's easier when the work is individual contributor with your own known and discrete tasks with a lot of flexibility as to when they happen as long as they are done on time. This makes it easier to work a set limited schedule because you can plan it so almost nothing has to be done urgently.

It's harder when the nature of the work is meetings and collaboration and unpredictable quick turnaround things. The flexibility to attend to family logistics ends up being not necessarily on my schedule. Some of this is based on which work I prefer. I'd rather do work I like on a schedule that varies from zero to 40+ hours on any given week. Others might prefer the same limited hours every day or week. There's also seasonality with the fiscal year and other things, so I generally know when I'll be more or less busy.

[Anonymous]

Works for our family (2 early elementary kids). I work from home 35 hrs per week. I’m able to volunteer occasionally (room parent), get my kids packed up for the day including sports stuff, take my kids to some sports practices (shared duty w DH), make dinner most nights, take kids to appointments, keep up with my own medical appointments, laundry, and (most importantly to me) get a substantial workout in each day (such as a 1-hr run and maybe some lifting). I hope to ratchet down to 30h/week at some point in the next few yrs.

[Anonymous]

Did it while the kids were in school, 24 hours per week.
The key is to be able to afford the pay cut and to set boundaries, so that you only work the number of hours you are paid for. I loved it, because I could volunteer for Halloween and Valentines Day parties, take off for random school's closed days, and still have time with adults and feel like I was contributing to our family.

The down side, while at work, you're thinking about what's needed at home, when at home, you're thinking about what needs to be done at work. And you dont fit in anywhere: The SAHM's look down their nose at you because you work, and the working moms are jealous that you don't have to work FT.

And, it's what worked best for me and our family. I wouldn't have changed a thing

[Anonymous]

No. Now I’m broke which is stressful.

[Anonymous]

It didn’t work for me. I mostly managed the setting boundaries and keeping PT hours, but working part-time and not being all in took the fun out of the job for me. I ended up staying home and having a 4th kid.

But - I’m very glad I tried PT before I did that. If you’re deciding between quitting and PT, I’d try PT first every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not for me. I ended up being paid for 20 hours but working closer to 35-40 hours per week. This was less than I would have otherwise, but very far from half time. It only works if you actually work half time.

This was my experience, as well. I dropped to part-time teaching (high school). I still worked 40 hours a week because of the grading and planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not for me. I ended up being paid for 20 hours but working closer to 35-40 hours per week. This was less than I would have otherwise, but very far from half time. It only works if you actually work half time.

This. I think it works for certain careers, like a nurse or in a school where your work is in person and you can't take it home. But if you work a corporate office job, particularly if you take your current job and go part time, you will likely end up doing the same work for less money.