Fed parents: Is your worklife balance better or worse than mine?

[Anonymous]

I have been in my current position for several years and could use your perspective. I’m a federal employee in a policy position. The workload, frankly, has been overwhelming from day one. I have perhaps 55 hours worth of work per week that I must attempt to cram into a 40-45 hour work week. I hit the ground running every morning, often skip lunch, and still see my cumulative work pile grow every week. This is highly stressful, and I still come out looking like I’m lazy or am not working hard enough. What’s worse is that my office often handles very sensitive issues. I’m forced to rush through concerns that should be dealt with in a thoughtful way. Not a good feeling, and stressful in its own way. My boss, with whom I work closely, is brilliant but disorganized. I rely on him heavily for his knowledge and expertise, but the disorganization makes it exhausting to work with him. Anyway, after experiencing all of the above on a daily basis, there’s not a lot of energy left to be a good spouse and parent when I get home from work. So my family is negatively impacted too.

On the other hand, this job has flexibilities and features that may not be easily matched in other federal jobs – (and I would prefer to stay in the federal sector). Key among them is that my boss allows me to work from home twice a week. This is an unbelievable godsend. It allows me to shorten my kids’ time in daycare/aftercare twice a week, and is great for scheduling service calls and such. On the days that I work on site, my boss also gives me flexibility in my arrival time. As long as I stay for an entire work day, he doesn’t care whether I start earlier or later than my official start time. This, too, has been awesome, given the daily bumps and scrapes of having a young family. No travel expectations in this job, which I also appreciate. Finally – while this job is not making me wealthy by any means – I anticipate that changing jobs would mean losing some salary. That wouldn’t be the end of the world, but I appreciate that my current salary allows me to save aggressively for college and overpay our mortgage.

Fed parents, is your worklife balance better or worse than mine? Should I suck it up and stay in the job that is stressful but flexible? Or are there fed jobs out there with a better overall worklife balance?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you have it good to me.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like my fed agency and DH's as well.... Except no teleworking here.

I'm surprised if you went to private sector you wouldn't make more money though?

I think the solution is that your boss hires another person to work for you/with you.

[Anonymous]

How about telling your boss about some upcoming training courses for personal time management so that he gets his stuff under control?

[Anonymous]

It sounds exactly like my schedule, but I work well under pressure. It doesn't sound like the right position for you. Try a lateral move.

[Anonymous]

Your worklife balance is good enough. You have flexibility, telework, and are working a max of 45 hours a week. Your problem is your boss, and maybe your, time management during working hours, and the fact that you take that stress home with you.

[Anonymous]

similar position here, but its really only within my smaller department. boss is brilliant, workaholic, and takes on more and more and we are all desperate to keep up. my colleagues in other divisions but with very similar jobs actually have time for research, lunch, and can complete projects on time because they are not constantly getting more of them.

I am looking for a new job because my boss will not change, and I can't see doing this another 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Mine is currently better. Not nearly as stressful as yours, rarely work more than 40 hours. Two days telework. Occasional travel but I don't mind that. I'm do grateful for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your worklife balance is good enough. You have flexibility, telework, and are working a max of 45 hours a week. Your problem is your boss, and maybe your, time management during working hours, and the fact that you take that stress home with you.

Agree with this. Sounds like issue is with managing up and leaving work at work. Not necessarily easy, but within your control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like my fed agency and DH's as well.... Except no teleworking here.

I'm surprised if you went to private sector you wouldn't make more money though?

I think the solution is that your boss hires another person to work for you/with you.

My husband is a fed and outearns me and we are both in our late 40s.

[Anonymous]

My fed husband's balance is similar to yours. My nonprofit balance is worse.

[Anonymous]

You are asking the wrong question by comparing yourself to other Feds. What you should be asking 'Is this working out well for me?'

[Anonymous]

My balance is great: two days/week telework, flexibility on hours and w/rt last-minute illnesses. I don't work more than 40 hours/week and don't feel too behind. I'm sure I could catch up on things with a few extra hours/week, but I value my family time more.

My husband (also a fed) has the dream, as far as I can tell: four days/week telework, with flexible hours provided he makes conference calls. He and his team are damn good at what they do, and keep winning awards. He doesn't work more than 40 hours/week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I have perhaps 55 hours worth of work per week that I must attempt to cram into a 40-45 hour work week. I hit the ground running every morning, often skip lunch, and still see my cumulative work pile grow every week. This is highly stressful, and I still come out looking like I’m lazy or am not working hard enough. . . . I’m forced to rush through concerns that should be dealt with in a thoughtful way.

I work a pretty solid, low stress, fulfilling 40 hours/week with occasional travel but I don't have the flexibility you do (can't telework, have to work a fixed schedule each day, etc.) I'm keeping my eyes open for something more flexible, although I can live with my current work/life balance.

If I were you, I'd keep an eye out for a different position that would allow you to maintain the flexible schedule but work less (closer to a standard 40 hrs of work a week). Also, I would consider talking to your boss about your current situation. Try to convey the points I quoted above; tell him you care about the work but can't do more than 40 hours per week and see if he can work something out. (Fill additional positions, shift responsibilities around to get everyone to a 40 hour work week, etc.) It's not unreasonable to tell your boss that you cannot work more than full time, in my opinion. Also, I don't think he can fire you for this (feds usually can only be fired for cause, and he'd need to document poor performance over time in order to show cause). Ask for what you want, see if your office can provide it, and if not, double down looking for something better.

[Anonymous]

Much worse, but depends on the position. 8-7pm (leave the house at 7:30, home around 7:30), M-F, lots of travel, and maxed out at $155.