WEBVTT - Split your shifts

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 2>tip is to try a split shift. If you need

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<v Speaker 2>to commute and need to be at your workplace five

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<v Speaker 2>days a week. It can be hard to find weekday

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<v Speaker 2>family time, particularly with young kids who go to bed early,

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<v Speaker 2>but it is not impossible. You just need to rework

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<v Speaker 2>your schedule a little bit. Today's tip, like some others

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<v Speaker 2>this week, comes from my book One hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 2>eight Hours. That book was first published in late May

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<v Speaker 2>of twenty ten, which means that it is fifteen.

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<v Speaker 1>Years old this month. A lot has changed in the

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<v Speaker 1>world since then, but we do, in fact still have

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred sixty eight hours and a week, and so

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<v Speaker 1>I am revisiting some of the tips in that book

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<v Speaker 1>that I think can still be helpful. One is to

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<v Speaker 1>try a split shift. So when one hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight Hours came out, remote work was still relatively rare.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes people could work from home on Fridays if they

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<v Speaker 1>had been with a company for years and had proven themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>but most of the time working meant commuting and going

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<v Speaker 1>to an office. Some jobs also have a reputation for

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<v Speaker 1>requiring longer hours. This is a problem if you have

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<v Speaker 1>young kids who go to bed relatively early, because getting

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<v Speaker 1>home at let's say seven pm on a weekday means

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<v Speaker 1>you will have very little time with a child who

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<v Speaker 1>goes to bed at seven thirty pm. Indeed, this scenario

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<v Speaker 1>has been mentioned as a reason why women will never

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<v Speaker 1>ascend to the upper ranks of our organizations, or so

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<v Speaker 1>the story goes, because they will want to see their kids. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you have been listening to me for a while,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll know that I find some holes in that story.

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<v Speaker 1>For starters, not all kids go to bed early. There

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<v Speaker 1>were times in my children's babyhoods when I would have

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<v Speaker 1>paid good money for them to go to bed at

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<v Speaker 1>seven thirty pm, let alone the six thirty pm that

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<v Speaker 1>some people seem to experience. I could have worked until

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<v Speaker 1>eight pm every night and still have seen my kids

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<v Speaker 1>for a reasonable chunk of time. But let's say you

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<v Speaker 1>don't have night owl children, or children like mine who

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<v Speaker 1>don't actually seem to require sleep. Just because you need

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<v Speaker 1>to work fifty hours a week and have a commute

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't mean that the extra hours all need to be

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<v Speaker 1>logged at your office into the evenings. Another approach is

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<v Speaker 1>to work a split shift. Here's what this means. A

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<v Speaker 1>few days each week, you leave work on the early side,

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<v Speaker 1>even if all the work isn't done. Let's say you

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<v Speaker 1>get out of there at five pm and have a

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<v Speaker 1>thirty minute commute. You are home at five thirty pm.

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<v Speaker 1>If your kid goes to bed at seven thirty pm,

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<v Speaker 1>you now have two hours together versus thirty minutes. If

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<v Speaker 1>you left at six thirty and got home at seven,

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<v Speaker 1>but then after your child goes to bed at seven thirty,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you do? Rather than watch TV, which is

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<v Speaker 1>what a lot of people do. You go back to

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<v Speaker 1>work remotely, log the ninety minutes you didn't do earlier.

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<v Speaker 1>Starting at seven thirty pm. You will be done at nine,

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<v Speaker 1>which gives you time to watch TV for an hour

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<v Speaker 1>or so. If you'd like, you trade off work time

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<v Speaker 1>for TV time rather than work time for kid time,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is a trade off a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>are more willing to make.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, in the intervening years since one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty eight hours came out, a lot more people started

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<v Speaker 1>working remotely with the pandemic, so I sort of shelved

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<v Speaker 1>this advice for a while, but now as more places

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<v Speaker 1>have returned to office policies, I think it's becoming relevant again.

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<v Speaker 1>You can do the required nine to five in the

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<v Speaker 1>office and then do any extra work outside that time

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<v Speaker 1>in a window that works for you. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>young kids, it is almost always better to do this

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<v Speaker 1>second shift later at night, after they go to bed,

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<v Speaker 1>versus during time you could be with them in the evening.

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<v Speaker 1>So I have seen this strategy on tons of professional

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<v Speaker 1>women's logs over the years, but there is zero reason

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<v Speaker 1>men can't do it too. I know many do. I

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<v Speaker 1>would also encourage more men to try it out, even

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<v Speaker 1>if your partner is largely responsible for childcare, because that

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<v Speaker 1>is your arrangement. I am guessing that you do, in

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<v Speaker 1>fact want to see your kids at least I hope

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<v Speaker 1>you do, and if you do, working a split shift

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<v Speaker 1>is a way to both put in the hours and

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<v Speaker 1>make that happen. So why not give it a whirl.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe not every night a week, but a few could

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<v Speaker 1>make it possible to have the best of both worlds.

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<v Speaker 1>I am all about remembering that everything does fit into

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and sixty eight hours. We just have to

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<v Speaker 1>be smart about our time, and then the trade offs

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<v Speaker 1>start to disappear. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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