Opportunities for women to take on part-time work are on the rise, which is great news for working mums who’re looking to break up their weeks between raising children and work. But the ability to combine parenting and work isn’t easy, and some are better at it than others.
Women’s Agenda spoke to two ‘highly effective’ part-time workers and mums to find out what habits they use to maximise their productivity on both fronts.
Flexibility
Sarah Morrissey, mum of two and marketing executive at Centryc Solutions, works three days a week. She stresses the importance of flexibility in achieving an effective result.
If colleagues or clients who you need to communicate with regularly don’t also work part-time, it is important to retain an element of flexibility outside of your core working days, she says. “I check my emails twice a day on the days I don’t work. Often I don’t respond, however I can easily see if there is something urgent waiting for my response or approval. At most this takes 10-15 minutes of my time.”
Christine Tylee, a mum of three and an independent consultant with The Body Shop At Home, recommends familiarising all family members with different arrangements for everyday activities to allow maximum flexibility.
Organisation
To cater for changing hours — especially if you do shift work, work to a rotating roster or based on demand — shared family planning is essential.
“We have a ‘family planner’ on the fridge that lists each family member and what activities they have on for the week,” says Tylee, whose workload changes each week.
“My husband and I also use the ‘Outlook’ shared calendar online facility so that we can easily see what each other have coming up over the next few weeks.”
Morrissey too relies on organisational tools like a calendar on iCloud or apps like Cozi to share and document work, family, school, pre-school and individual children’s events throughout the week.
Although it may be tedious, both Morrissey and Tylee subscribe to the idea of preparing their families the night before.
“We prepare clothes, lunches and have bags packed the night before,” says Tylee. Informing each member of the family where they’re off to the next day also helps them settle better, she adds.
Delegation
Splitting family chores and pushing the notion of ‘a team effort’ makes a significant difference to staying productive during a long work day.
In the Tylee family, grocery shopping is done online. Chores such as tidying up the kitchen, loading and unloading the dishwasher, are split between all family members. Other tasks are outsourced: “I also have a cleaner, someone to mow the lawns and our ironing done by someone local,” says Tylee.
Without feeling any pressure that she has to do it all herself, Morrissey too relies on outside help – her mum to help with school pickups/drop-offs and meals, and her support team at work to assist with everyday duties.
Rule-making
Being a ‘rule-maker’ is a great habit for staying productive while working part-time. You may impose a ‘no meetings after a particular time’ rule, especially if you need to manage school pick-ups, or you may choose to communicate that you would rather not be interrupted during a scheduled period of time at your desk.
Morrissey also recommends requesting virtual meetings with colleagues or clients via Skype or a teleconference (instead of meeting half-way across town) to improve efficiency.
Applying the same discipline and rules when managing your own time is also worth it, says Tylee. “I have a ’10 minute tidy-up’ rule for myself at the end of my work-time so that when I sit down to work next time I don’t have to battle mess to find the things I need.”
What do you believe makes a productive part-time worker?