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More time at home, less time at work. The balance between work and home is probably my biggest challenge. I am clear that my priority is being a mom first; career is a later lower on the list. Over the last couple of quarters I have been given much more work than one could finish in a forty hour week. At first I did not mind investing the time, as my career is very rewarding. I am starting to realize that the culture at work is changing and that the few extra hours needed to finish the project might have become more of a standard than a temporary arrangement. Any suggestions on what say when trying to push back on the extra hours?”

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2 replies so far...

  • You should nip this in the bud fast!
    Please make it clear that you are expected to be home each night by a certain time. Even mention that your child had a sport event, or needs to be picked up, keep the commitments verbal and let people know that you are able to work from home, once things are taken care of.
    I have done this in the past./
    If something is due the next day, I will leave ontime and then work from 9p-11p to make sure it gets done, but also make sure my kids are fed, etc.
    not sure what type of job you do, and if anything can be done at home,

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by DebR on 2nd October 2008

  • ask your boss to prioritize. Do you bill out your time to projects? if not, start keeping track of how much time you are spending on each project seperatly. Then go to your boss and let him/her know exactly how much time you are spending and how much more you are projecting to spend. Ask them to prioritize where you should spend your time since you are not currently being compensated to work the extra hours. maybe even go so far as to suggest they add a resource if there is enough work to do! good luck!! usually as long as you voice your priority and are able to show you arent goofing off and taking too long to get things done, the voice of reason prevails. if you do NOT push back, they will just think it's ok to overload you, and i dont think you are ok with that :)

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by Kate on 4th September 2008

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