Parents Working Part Time: Is Balance a Real Thing?
This week I received an inbox message:
"Hello Hello! How are you lovely lady? A quickie, is finding a part-time role that enables us working mums to find balance a real thing? Or are we always going to be chasing our tails, working extra crazy hours to make our part-time roles work? Asking for a friend… "
The ex colleague and friend was happy for me to share this and some of the outcomes from our subsequent chat (towards progressive conversation on the topic).
Firstly, this media professional is an experienced, high performance individual who is highly sought after with an exceptional reputation. She was snapped up by an agency a mere two weeks after coming back onto the market from maternity leave and currently works part time in a tier one media agency... though notes it's truly a six-day-a-week role at the moment.
The question, on one hand, was about the whether the 'dream' of part time really exists out there in a way that offers true balance for parents who have commitments to dependents outside of work. The conversation also naturally flowed into work-life-balance and the ways to help improve this beyond just the changes that can be made at work (which would take some more planning).
On that note we started the actionable work-life-balance changes here;
Time is more valuable than money. I once read about a highly successful businesswoman and mother who said "outsource everything that doesn’t bring you joy"... this really struck a chord with me. She also added that said outsourcing can and should be undertaken without any feeling of guilt - because you'll be increasing your time with kids/partner and also increase how present you are during those times. We're talking about meal prep, cleaning, garden maintenance, odd jobs. Not suggesting hiring Mary Poppins and paying out everything you're earning, but making some clever tweaks at reasonable cost to take the edge off. Some people find cooking cathartic and calming (joyful!) for example and then there are the rest of us who are scraping the bottom of the veggie drawer in the fridge and planning (stressing) day to day, often guilt stricken about kids nutrient levels. So for say 3 meals a week consider accessing services like Gourmeal #notsponsored (or even a local Italian cook via your suburb facebook page!) to deliver the likes of homemade lasagna, chicken or eggplant shnitzels, arancini balls, pots of soup, fresh cut veggies (to grab and go or for yourself and kids snacks & lunches). These ideas alone can be outsourced around $30 an hour (plus produce) and can help lift that stress and add some much needed balance... bringing you (I would argue) $1M worth of mental freedom - a week!
Further on the work-life-balance front I always ask people who are questioning their work-life balance what they are you doing for themselves that brings them joy? This is a tricky one. My friend who sent the inbox message said she was getting up at 3am some days to do some work and then exercise (for herself) and then get into the day - this isn't what I'm talking about - what I'm talking about is the activities or interests you are pursuing for your own ongoing self development that aren't counterproductive to your rest and wellbeing. This might be community contribution, personal learning or self development (I recommend the MojoCrowe app #notsponsored). Because balance is not just about time and empty hours to rest... it includes this but it also includes balancing everything you give with taking for yourself. It starts with the freedom set up by time but the actual 'balance' itself comes from the input in that time and how you use it for your Self.
Back to the original question about working part-time. Right now, as an industry, we've clearly got a talent and resource shortage. This means we're seeing senior people pulled further and further back into the day-to-day task based work (which often tends to be timeline/deadline based) and seeing junior talent promoted and moving up in record speed.
So the first piece of actionable advice was to start looking after #1, especially if you work in an industry or organisational type that have proven history of burning people out, even the highest performers. This is your time, your life and it's not about letting the individuals in your team around you down - it's about communicating what is required from the top of the company down in order to retain the balance that directly impacts your mental wellbeing. When this (resource/support) is out of balance and you aren't in your flow, everything else in your life is affected and it's untenable. Read that again. So in terms of action, communicate your resource requirements and when you need them in place by otherwise you’ve determined it’s unsustainable and will be moving on - it's a candidates market, you will be moving on. The candidates that are happy and not open to opportunities at the moment are those who are being fairly paid for their work and achieving true work life balance. They are happy, fulfilled and therefore don't need to seek external change or new opportunity. The alternative is the reverse of that.
If you're thinking the answer is not with your current employer then think about how you can pivot your career to leverage your skills (work in a partnerships role instead of a deadline-bound campaigns based role, or freelance consulting, jumping to another side of the fence but not in a way that is jumping from the frying pan into the fire.) You may consider some career guidance for this, a service offered through key professional partners at Peeps Consulting (... shameless self promotion because we've seen it impact so many professional lives positively).
So to the question, is balance a real thing? Yes but you're the one at the centre-point of the see-saw applying the pressure where it's needed to ensure stability and, indeed, an enjoyable ride.
Interested in further contributions and thoughts if you are interested to share, please get in touch!