Strategies for making a part time (salaried) job work well?

[out_spokin']

So I just found out I am lucky enough to be keeping my job, but it will “shrink” to a 3 day/.6 FTE position starting Oct. 1st.

Thanks to being partnered and relatively frugal, the finances will work at least medium term (year or so) if we're really careful. I may try to pick up some consulting/contract work, but not right away.

The schedule is up in the air at the moment, but most likely will be three full weekdays since I work 60 miles away from home (bike/bus combo commute). I’ll still travel some, but less than I’ve been, and believe there will be fewer night/weekend commitments. (ah, nonprofit/NGO careers)

I’m actually pretty excited about having more time to myself, time at home, time for riding big miles. This is actually my main dilemma – how to structure my schedule and expectations so that I stay realistic about what I can do both on the job and especially at home. For example, I’m already talking myself down about what I can do accomplish in October, because re-organizing/decluttering my home office, creating a super-efficient gear storage/bike workshop/laundry room from the basement, building up a bike or two, cooking tons more, taking a graduate level class and learning cyclocross is probably just a touch out of reach for my first month of part time work.

Which leads to my question – for those of you who’ve done something like this, how do you balance your job and all the other stuff in a way that leaves you focused at work, allows you to build your physical/emotional energy reserves back up (burn out has been an issue), and have “doable” goals for learning/hobbies/volunteering?

Thanks in advance for your input!

[DebW]

I've been in that situation for a couple years now. Can't say as I've made the most of it. But I have done some additional volunteer work and spent some regular weekly hours with my now 6 year old nephew. I also took a 2 week training course in bike mechanics and found a part-time seasonal job in a shop. In the non-LBS season, I generally work at my old job more than the 24 hours I get paid to work, and may be there 5 days/wk. Somehow the house painting and other such things I'd planned for my extra time never happened. The things I made commitments to happened, the more open-ended stuff mostly didn't.

[maryellen]

I switched from full-time to part-time back in 2005 (just in time to train for an aids ride!). At first I spread the hours out over five days but ultimately switched to 3 full days. I find it works best if I specifically plan what to do on my "extra" days off to make the most of them (i.e., what time will I go to the gym, get out on the bike, etc.) otherwise I can just waste them.

I love working 3/5 time and I hope you will as well!

[out_spokin']

maryellen - interesting that you went from 5 part time to 3 full time days. I did a similar spread out schedule for a few months once, and it was OK, but it was also hourly. I'm afraid that with the type of job I have it would be particularly difficult to keep it from seeping out into considerably more than 3/5 time. I want to be responsive to the needs of my supervisor and colleagues, but I think that having a pretty regular schedule and being open to the fact that somedays I'll have to work when I didn't plan it should take care of that. What schedule are you working? I'm thinking Tues/Thurs/Fri -- enough to have a 3 day weekend and a couple of days working in a row to balance things out. Not sure when I'll have to decide....

DebW - envy you the time w/ nephew. I'd LOVE to have that option -- turns out being in different sides of the country and in different COUNTRIES makes that undoable. But hoping I can add a volunteer gig w/ youth as part of this new time. I'm very tempted to take one of the Barnett courses, because it's literally within walking distance of my house. But now the $ is a factor. And I'm having a blast as a mostly self (book)-taught wrench...Finding some part time work in a shop is also tempting. I've worked at REI a couple times over the years and know they'd take me back, but it's a 50 minute bike ride one way and the closing shifts end so late. Besides the fact that I'd likely spend my earnings on prodeals.

[maryellen]

maryellen - interesting that you went from 5 part time to 3 full time days.

I went from 5 full days to 5 part-days to 3 full days mostly to suit my training for an AIDS ride. I wanted to be able to ride every morning and then go to work for a few hours (and I should add that I have a short commute).

For the last 2+ years, I've been working Tu-We-Th. If I had a day off in between, I think it would stretch the work week out for me psychologically. And I do think it's easiest to keep it to 3/5 time if you are only in the office 3 days.

Virtually any meeting I attend is internal (I work in local government). I keep my schedule up to date in Outlook and anyone in my agency can see my availability when trying to schedule a meeting (but not what I am doing!). I do check my email and handle things on Mondays and Fridays if I'm home during the day, otherwise not until the evening. Folks at my workplace don't use the phone much, so it's not that noticeable that I'm not physically present on my days off.

PS, I can put in for compensatory time if I want. So when I've needed to put in extra time, I've been willing to do so. It helps that I enjoy my work! I've often been pretty flexible w my schedule but then so has my employer, particularly last year when my father was declining and I had frequent unexpected trips to Florida.

It works well for me and I hope it will for you as well!

[out_spokin']

Some good strategies there. I'm still "training" some of my colleagues to check my Outlook schedule for telecommute/travel days, but I've had to do a workaround (weekly schedule/location email update) for my supervisor who just won't make the leap.

It would be nice to concentrate the work days into one 3 day clump, but I've found that with my loooooong commute it's pretty rough when I do 3 in a row -- somehow with 2 in a row I can keep the bike commute, food planning, and clothes prep under control but 3 really pushes it. Might be good to experiment with it though!