How to work part-time and still develop your career, by applying childhood maths.

“I will just need to put my career aspirations on hold whilst I work part-time”.

For the first time in a long time, I actually teared up a bit when working with a client. I remember feeling like this when I returned to work after my first maternity leave. I managed to overcome this belief, but clearly can recall the fear and frustration.

Simple maths can really help!

How many mums feel this way and are holding themselves back? Returning to work as a parent, regardless of the job is different, no bones about it. The end of your day is absolute.  Where before you could stay over to work on passion projects or last minute deadlines, the childminder, nursery or school run doesn’t allow this!

Whilst your productivity goes through the roof, this is where the internal struggle occurs; career development is often supported by extra responsibilities which develop new skills. Throw into the internal politics of “showing willing” through volunteering; many parents struggle to balance work and home life.

It doesn’t have to be that way; you can have the career you want with your new time restrictions.
This issue lies in our perception of time.

When we think of the pressure of work we think in hours and minutes.
This shouldn’t be the case; there will never be enough time.
We need to consider the proportion of opportunities to say “yes”.

Think of your working day as a pie chart, with varying sized slices representing different activities. You may have “meetings” time, “report writing” time and, most importantly, personal development time.

All these slices still exist in your new working pattern, just the “Pie chart” has got smaller. Where before it may have been slices across a 40 hours week, it may now be a 20 hours week.

Let’s work this through in a real example:

• First. Consider the working week you had before you became a parent; maybe it was 36.5 hours, or 2190 minutes, a week.
• Let’s say that you were able to allocate two hours a week (average) to project’s outside of the “day job” that developed your skills. That was 5% of your working week.
• If you now work twenty hours a week, I hope that some of your tasks have been delegated by either yourself or your manager (if not, you need to discuss that!).
• The percentage still stands. You have 5% of your working as the proportion of opportunities to say “yes”. One hour or 60 minutes a week.
• This is the same percentage of the week you previously had, just relative to your new working hours.
• Finally, what activities could help you develop and stretch your skills? Make sure these are the ones your volunteer or say “yes” to more often.

You now have the tools you need to be mindful of what you are doing every day. Give yourself permission to allocate time to work on projects that develop you and your skills. Finally, commit this time into your diary.

You are in more control of your time than you think … grab the opportunities that will make a difference to your career today!
Does this sound familiar?  Join my Facebook group The Balance Collective with Clara Wilcox to chat with other parents.

I’m Clara Wilcox, a return to work, career, confidence and balance coach. Find out more on my website or find me on Facebook, Twitter or connect with on LinkedIn!

Take Care of the Business of You – get out of your own way and have the career you want – launches 6th June. Early adopter price!

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