Comments on: Do most working moms really want to work part-time and is part-time work as great as it might seem?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:57:44 +0000

I feel so grateful to have a wonderful home business that allows me to work when I want to work and be in control of my life without a boss or alarm clock..I have the flexibility to work full time one week or part time another.. whatever suits me and my family is what i do..it’s so sad that we have all been programmed to the 40 hours a week for 40 years rule..there are so many wonderful opportunities out there today that you can mold to suit your life..explore your options and take risks..Life is way too short to live by other’s rules…

Jess

By: Donna

Donna — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:47:01 +0000

I recently switched from FT to PT (last October). –My set up is better than part time because it is a partial job share position. We are a supervisory team, but we have separate reports. We back each other up only. We have pretty separate functions beyond supervising unless we have a customer we are helping and unless we are hiring someone (these functions we share). I was quite surprized to find out that being home more often did not help the house stay cleaner or get me exercising or get us super-healthy meals to the table. I had grand plans and have found that working part-time and being home with twin 3year olds has just as much chaos as working full time with an hour commute. I am very satisfied with my life situation and my kids really, really needed me home more. Ever so slowly the house is getting cleaner, but I’m doubtful that is PT related and am just lucky to have really solid nappers. I am taking care of the bills instead of my Hubby, so hopefully that helps (he is the dish-king though still!)
I’ll never give it up though: It is nice to be home and I don’t feel like I have to be with my kids all the time now–I’d hire a sitter now, but when I was working full time all I wanted was more time in Mom role.

By: Ocean's Mom

Ocean's Mom — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:58:10 +0000

I would love to work part time for the same pay, of course! However, one of my good friends works part time and it sounds worse. She said that she ends up just working 24/7 between the house, the kids, the husband and her job. She gets stuck with absolutely everything because he figures that she doesn’t work as much as he does so she should do everything. She is absolutely miserable. So it made me rethink this strategy.

By: Gaby

Gaby — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:17:21 +0000

Hi! I read this topic some time ago - when I was looking into a part time profession. I got one!! I tried to establish a routine, but I was extremely stressed trying to keep the boundaries. So, I decided to be more flexible, and log every day all the hours I work more…hopefully, I can take a whole week of in a month or two with all the extra hours I am putting in after the children go to bed, and then spend that week with my children. So maybe its not part time on a daily basis, but has more holidays…

By: Tanya

Tanya — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:52:03 +0000

I do believe that the future reality is that part-time will happen and it will be respected as a part of the job process. Very progressive companies already have VPs who work part-time. I absolutely think it can happen, but it takes a culture shift, and one that I believe that Gen Y will force us to make happen (too bad I’m Gen X and need it NOW). I for one was outright told I’d be passed over for interesting opportunities, but I see the national and global market trends, and they point to part-time as the future of an person’s career lifecycle.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:12:33 +0000

This is such a big issue for moms. I, for one, would LOVE a part-time job. I know that if and when I do start working outside the home for 40 hours a week, I am going to miss out on so much. It makes my heart ache, because right now I love being the one who sees Nick’s first moments. But I know I cannot (read: don’t want to) stay home forever. However, when I try to look for jobs that will use my talents, education and experience, I find that there are NONE that are part-time. It’s a sad situation, because I think this is one main reason that women have such a hard time moving up the career ladder - we are less willing to give up time with our families.

By: Lisa Willard

Lisa Willard — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:28:40 +0000

This is a great subject and one I can relate to. I do work FT in Corporate America, which is 40+ hour per week. But I’m also pursuing my home business dream. I love Network Marketing and plan to leave Corp. America within the next two years. There is sacrifice along the way, but I do believe that Network Marketing will bring me financial freedom along with time freedom.

It all about setting a goal and taking action to achieve it.

By: Diane M

Diane M — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:24:06 +0000

I worked part-time for four years at my company. I worked 3 days a week but it meant taking on projects that weren’t in my field and I didn’t really like. Now I’m working full-time and back in my field but I miss the extra time I had with my son, plus I just had another baby and am wondering how I’m going to juggle working full-time with 2 kids. I’m still on maternity leave right now.

By: naturalsoycandles

naturalsoycandles — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:56:58 +0000

Hmmm….very interesting subject. I personally would like to work full-time on a “part-time” basis. I love to work, - absolutely love it, provided I am doing something that is consistently challenging me mentally, and is something I enjoy. On the other hand, I the freedom of being able to walk away for a while when I’ve had enough, knowing that I can come back to it once I’ve got my bearings again.
So, yes, I’d rather work full-time, but only when I want to and it fits into my family life.
That’s probably why working from home suits me so well. I am able to work long hours if the need really arises, however no one is standing over my shoulder looking at their watch when I decide to take a break for lunch, or to just chill out. Besides, where else can you get up in the middle of the night and work when you can’t sleep?

By: Dee Anna

Dee Anna — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:56:35 +0000

I worked in a job where I thought it was impossible to work part time. My job is deadline driven, unpredictable, client service oriented and I manage a large team. By the time my son was 1, my health began to suffer so I decided to quit and planned to do consulting. My boss asked me to stay and said she’d make any accomodations I wanted (it helps that she is a single mom). So I cut back to 32 hours a week, which may not sound like part time, but it did to me since I had been working 50-60 hours. On some level, I am still always on bc I have to check my blackberry constantly. But oddly, I found that I can pretty much manage the same workload in fewer hours because I’m not sleep deprived and feel sharper mentally. I work 28 hours in the office and 4 flex hours. Since most salaried part time people end up working more than their scheduled hours, I built in the flex hours to cover the time I spend at home on email. If I work more than 32 hours, I take comp time when I things are slowe. I did that to avoid the financial incentive to work more hours.