1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: tip is don't buy time to do lower paid work. 4 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: If you are highly paid, it doesn't make a lot 5 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: of sense to cut back on your working hours to 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: free up space for something you could pay someone else 7 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: to do for less. It might be worth it to 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: do high quality activities in your personal life, but not 9 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: for the laundry. Since I write and speak about work 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: life balance, I often hear from people who are thinking 11 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: of going part time. A busy professional feels time poor, 12 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: that there aren't enough hours in the week for their 13 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: job and everything else that's going on in their life, 14 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: so they consider cutting their working hours. And on the surface, 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: this might seem like a smart idea. Work a little less, 16 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: be paid a little less, and have more time for family, 17 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: other relationships, and life maintenance. That is the best of 18 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: both worlds, right, But I think there are some potential 19 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: problems with this plan. First, and people who've listened to 20 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: this podcast for a while have heard me say this 21 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,839 Speaker 1: before going part time makes more sense for some types 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: of work than others. A nurse who is scheduled to 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: work twenty four hours a week, is probably going to 24 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: work about twenty four hours a week. Her patients aren't 25 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: randomly showing up at her house on her days off. 26 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: A knowledge worker who gets client calls, on the other hand, 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: is probably going to take a call on a day 28 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: she is not in the office if it seems important, 29 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: and she's not going to be able to guarantee that 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: her colleagues will only do with her projects at the 31 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: time she is supposed to be working when the workload 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: is more nebulous. Many people who go part time find 33 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: they for sure change their salaries, but only maybe change 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: their hours and their workloads. But the second issue, and 35 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: the one that's the topic of this episode, is that 36 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: people don't always go part time for reasons that make 37 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,399 Speaker 1: a lot of economic sense. If you want to cut 38 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: your work hours to have adventures with your kids, or 39 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: write your novel, or train for a triathlon, or have 40 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 1: meaningful conversations with your aging parents, be my guest. These 41 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: are things that don't really have a dollar value, because 42 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: they are all about the meaning that you assigned to them. 43 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: But if you are going part time because the laundry 44 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: isn't getting done, this is a different matter much housework 45 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: can be assigned a dollar value and may not particularly 46 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: be about any sort of deeper meaning. What if you 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: continued to work full time and use the income you 48 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: are not giving up to pay someone else to take 49 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: on some of these tasks rather than going part time 50 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: because you can't find time to clean your house, hire 51 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: a cleaning service rather than going part time. To create 52 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: time to grocery shop, have your groceries delivered, or use 53 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: a meal prep service rather than going part time because 54 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: you feel overwhelmed by all the life maintenance details, hire 55 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: a household manager to come in a couple of mornings 56 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: a week and attend to them. If you are a 57 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: highly paid professional, as I know many people listening to 58 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: this podcast are, the amount of money it takes to 59 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: pay for a cleaning service or grocery delivery is likely 60 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: a lot less than you would be giving up by 61 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: going part time. If you stay full time but outsource 62 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: some tasks, you will still get more margin in your 63 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: life because you will have more time without a task 64 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: assigned to it, and you'll continue to get paid more 65 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: and get retirement contributions. Based on that higher salary. You 66 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: may also advance in your career. Faster than if you 67 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: are part time. Buying that time can be great, but 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: you want to be sure the time you are buying 69 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: back is worth it. So really think about what you 70 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: plan to do with your time off. Make sure it's 71 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: something you enjoy or finds meaningfuler more meaningful than your work. 72 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: Otherwise you might be substituting one kind of labor for another, 73 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: but not in a way that makes any sort of 74 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: economic sense. Don't buy time to do lower paid work. 75 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: Buy time to do things that feel to you like 76 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: they are priceless. In the meantime, Laura, thanks for listening, 77 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks 78 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, 79 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. 81 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, 82 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.