Reflections on Part Time Work

[This is a somewhat reflective piece that only has a tangential relation to patent work. Feel free to ignore until more patent-centric posts come along. It may be of help for others considering different working patterns while looking after young children.]

I have been working part time since May as my partner and I share the childcare for our three children. I am now coming up to the three month mark. Here are my reflections on the experience.

I currently work Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Salary, holiday and other benefits are prorated on a three-fifths basis. On a Wednesday and Thursday I am responsible for the childcare while my partner works. The older two children will be in school from September, while the youngest is under one. Working part time is temporary, we will reassess our options when the demands of the youngest tail off a little.

Benefits

Before number three came along, I worked for a period full-time with the older two children in nursery. Compared to this arrangement there are a number of advantages in working part-time.

Work

Part time works leads to better supervisory work.

For example, I work with a number of pre and post-qualified associates, supervising and guiding their work. I can set up a task at the beginning of the week and then check this at the end of the week. Not being there makes me a better teacher and manager – I have to issue clear and concise guidance, and I am prevented from micromanaging. I also feel it improves the learning and initiative of our associates – they need to work out things for themselves and prepare materials for easy review and comprehension.

Days at work pass more rapidly – “flow” is easier.

As time is limited there is always something to do and no space for procrastination. The feeling that lunch or 5:30pm has crept up on me happens more often. This is also because I have more mental energy for work tasks, and I appreciate the silence and room to think after days of childcare.

Clients get a good deal.

Having more mental energy and less time for procrastination leads to high quality work for a higher proportion of the working week.

Home Life

More housework gets done.

Being home for two extra days means time for jobs such as tidying and washing. These jobs used to be relegated to the weekend when often we were too tired to spend much time doing them.

We eat better.

On the days when I am off I have time to whip up a batch of food in the slow cooker or do some baking. This saves us money and is healthier, especially compared to buying prepared food or ready meals. It means there is normally a batch of leftovers in the fridge. I also do the weekly shop on a Wednesday morning when it is relatively quiet.

I have more practice at parenting.

I am not the best parent in the world. I get angry. I have a relatively low tolerance for messing about. I do not plan amazing educational activities. However, by just being around, my bond with the children is improving. Anecdotally, I also think their behaviour, at least outside the home, is improving.

The children also benefit from having two different parents look after them. I think this makes them more robust and more open, as they are not tied to any one individual’s behavioural patterns. They also experience both a male and female perspective.

More equality, less resentment.

As we are both working (approximately) 50% of the time (60-40 for pedants), it becomes easier to share things like bills, housework and random expenses on the same basis. Hence, no one feels resentful at being the breadwinner/homemaker while the other party lives a life of Reilly as the homemaker/breadwinner. Decisions are also easier as no one plays a breadwinner/homemaker trump card.

General

More energy and motivation to live better.

Not sitting behind a desk for most of the week has health benefits. Looking after children definitely involves more physical exercise, so as a result I am healthier than I was working full time. Coupled with eating better, this results in more energy and motivation.

 
Disadvantages

Work

Career on hold.

Practically, going part-time has parked any available career progression until I return to my full-time position. This is a somewhat fair trade-off. There is not the (over) time to dedicate to career building and progression at the moment. However, I think this will become harder to bear as more of my contemporaries progress. It is noted that there are a lack of permanent options for part-time employees.

Weeks pass quickly.

When working your brain can often assume that you have a full week to get things done. This is not the case. Combined with the increased “flow” documented above, it is easy for time to fly by. This requires extra diligence and planning.

Missing seminar sessions.

For some reason, most continuing professional development sessions are scheduled for a Wednesday or Thursday. Watching a recorded session does not count as full session time.

Home Life

Constant vigilance.

Looking after young children full-time, four days a week means that attention comes in 30 second segments. Turn away for more than this and a four-year-old is balancing a totem pole on the baby’s head, or the baby is doing a stunt roll down the stairs, or someone is eating sequins. This can be mentally draining. A good couple of hours or relatively silent, contemplative time is needed to let my brain return to normal.

No time for side projects.

I have a number of web development, robotics and artificial intelligence ideas I enjoy playing around with (e.g. via Lego mindstorms, Flask projects, or Raspberry Pi GPI/O or machine vision test rigs). Although I would love to sit down and work on these during the days looking after the children, the reality is this is just not possible. Instead, discipline is needed to carve out 30mins before work or an hour before bed or on the weekend. This is hard to enact when you are tired.

Stuff That Works Both Ways

Finances

Although there is a three-fifths hit to gross income, this rather surprisingly does not equal a three-fifths hit to net income.

In the UK there is a progressive taxation of income, meaning that if you earn more you are often taxed at a higher rate. Also there are arbitrary single income cut-offs for benefits such as child benefit. Childcare costs have also risen at a much higher rate than income. For us this means that the amount we lose in income approximately equals the amount we would have to pay out in childcare. So we are about even overall.

Context

Mentally flipping between two very different environments can lead to cognitive dissonance. However, it can help in seeing more of the context both at home and at work, as neither completely takes over your life. For example, the differences between household and commercial accounts may be of orders of magnitude, but a frugal approach to home finances can help prevent profligate policies at work, and increase client value. Also the soap opera of company mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies, and the lack of control in these situations, may be approached in the same stoic manner as a screaming toddler. In the end, the balance helps strip out some of the needless noise and concentrate on long term value.