WEBVTT - Second Cup: Don't buy time to do low paid work

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

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is don't buy time to do lower paid work.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are highly paid, it doesn't make a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of sense to cut back on your working hours, to

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<v Speaker 1>free up space for something you could pay someone else

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<v Speaker 1>to do, for less. It might be worth it to

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<v Speaker 1>do high-quality activities in your personal life, but not for

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<v Speaker 1>the laundry. Since I write and speak about work-life balance,

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<v Speaker 1>I often hear from people who are thinking of going part-time.

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<v Speaker 1>A busy professional feels time poor, that there aren't enough

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<v Speaker 1>hours in the week for their job and everything else

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<v Speaker 1>that's going on in their life. so they consider cutting

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<v Speaker 1>their working hours. And on the surface, this might seem

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<v Speaker 1>like a smart idea. Work a little less, be paid

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<v Speaker 1>a little less, and have more time for family, other relationships,

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<v Speaker 1>and life maintenance. That is the best of both worlds, right?

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<v Speaker 1>But I think there are some potential problems with this plan. First,

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<v Speaker 1>and people who've listened to this podcast for a while

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<v Speaker 1>have heard me say this before, Going part-time makes more

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<v Speaker 1>sense for some types of work than others. A nurse

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<v Speaker 1>who is scheduled to work 24 hours a week is

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<v Speaker 1>probably going to work about 24 hours a week. Her

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<v Speaker 1>patients aren't randomly showing up at her house on her

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<v Speaker 1>days off. A knowledge worker who gets client calls, on

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<v Speaker 1>the other hand, is probably going to take a call

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<v Speaker 1>on a day she is not in the office, if

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<v Speaker 1>it seems important. And she's not going to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to guarantee that her colleagues will only deal with her

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<v Speaker 1>projects at the time she is supposed to be working.

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<v Speaker 1>When the workload is more nebulous, many people who go

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<v Speaker 1>part-time find they for sure change their salaries, but only

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<v Speaker 1>maybe change their hours and their workloads. But the second issue,

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<v Speaker 1>and the one that's the topic of this episode... is

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<v Speaker 1>that people don't always go part-time for reasons that make

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of economic sense. If you want to cut

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<v Speaker 1>your work hours to have adventures with your kids or

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<v Speaker 1>write your novel or train for a triathlon or have

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<v Speaker 1>meaningful conversations with your aging parents, be my guest. These

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<v Speaker 1>are things that don't really have a dollar value because

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<v Speaker 1>they are all about the meaning that you assign to them.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you are going part-time because the laundry isn't

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<v Speaker 1>getting done, This is a different matter. Much housework can

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<v Speaker 1>be assigned a dollar value and may not particularly be

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<v Speaker 1>about any sort of deeper meaning. What if you continued

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<v Speaker 1>to work full-time and use the income you are not

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<v Speaker 1>giving up to pay someone else to take on some

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<v Speaker 1>of these tasks? Rather than going part-time because you can't

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<v Speaker 1>find time to clean your house, hire a cleaning service.

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<v Speaker 1>Rather than going part-time to create time to grocery shop,

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<v Speaker 1>have your groceries delivered, or use a meal prep service.

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<v Speaker 1>Rather than going part-time because you feel overwhelmed by all

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<v Speaker 1>the life maintenance details, hire a household manager to come

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<v Speaker 1>in a couple of mornings a week and attend to them.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are a highly paid professional, as I know

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<v Speaker 1>many people listening to this podcast are, the amount of

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<v Speaker 1>money it takes to pay for a cleaning service or

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<v Speaker 1>grocery delivery is likely a lot less than you would

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<v Speaker 1>be giving up by going part-time. If you stay full-time

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<v Speaker 1>but outsource some tasks, you will still get more margin

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<v Speaker 1>in your life because you will have more time without

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<v Speaker 1>a task assigned to it. And you'll continue to get

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<v Speaker 1>paid more and get retirement contributions based on that higher salary.

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<v Speaker 1>You may also advance in your career faster than if

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<v Speaker 1>you were part-time. Buying back time can be great, but

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<v Speaker 1>you want to be sure the time you are buying

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<v Speaker 1>back is worth it. So really think about what you

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<v Speaker 1>plan to do with your time off. Make sure it's

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<v Speaker 1>something you enjoy or find as meaningful or more meaningful

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<v Speaker 1>than your work. Otherwise, you might be substituting one kind

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<v Speaker 1>of labor for another, but not in a way that

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<v Speaker 1>makes any sort of economic sense. Don't buy time to

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<v Speaker 1>do lower paid work. Buy time to do things that feel,

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<v Speaker 1>to you, like they are priceless. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening. And here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at laura at lauravandercam.com. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

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