WEBVTT - 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

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<v Speaker 1>for the laundry. Since I write and speak about work

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<v Speaker 1>life balance, I often hear from people who are thinking

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<v Speaker 1>of going part time. A busy professional feels time poor,

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<v Speaker 1>that there aren't enough hours in the week for their

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<v Speaker 1>job and everything else that's going on in their life,

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<v Speaker 1>so they consider cutting their working hours. And on the surface,

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<v Speaker 1>this might seem like a smart idea. Work a little less,

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<v Speaker 1>be paid a little less, and have more time for family,

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<v Speaker 1>other relationships, and life maintenance. That is the best of

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<v Speaker 1>both worlds, right, But I think there are some potential

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<v Speaker 1>problems with this plan. First, and people who've listened to

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast for a while have heard me say this

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<v Speaker 1>before going part time makes more sense for some types

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<v Speaker 1>of work than others. A nurse who is scheduled to

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<v Speaker 1>work twenty four hours a week, is probably going to

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<v Speaker 1>work about twenty four hours a week. Her patients aren't

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<v Speaker 1>randomly showing up at her house on her days off.

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<v Speaker 1>A knowledge worker who gets client calls, on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 1>is probably going to take a call on a day

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<v Speaker 1>she is not in the office if it seems important,

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<v Speaker 1>and she's not going to be able to guarantee that

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<v Speaker 1>her colleagues will only do with her projects at the

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<v Speaker 1>time she is supposed to be working when the workload

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<v Speaker 1>is more nebulous. Many people who go part time find

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<v Speaker 1>they for sure change their salaries, but only maybe change

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>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 assigned to them.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you are going part time because the laundry

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<v Speaker 1>isn't getting done, this is a different matter much housework

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>continued to work full time and use the income you

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<v Speaker 1>are not giving up to pay someone else to take

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<v Speaker 1>on some of these tasks rather than going part time

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<v Speaker 1>because you can't find time to clean your house, hire

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<v Speaker 1>a cleaning service rather than going part time. To create

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<v Speaker 1>time to grocery shop, have your groceries delivered, or use

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<v Speaker 1>a meal prep service rather than going part time because

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<v Speaker 1>you feel overwhelmed by all the life maintenance details, hire

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<v Speaker 1>a household manager to come in a couple of mornings

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<v Speaker 1>a week and attend to them. If you are a

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<v Speaker 1>highly paid professional, as I know many people listening to

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast are, the amount of money it takes to

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<v Speaker 1>pay for a cleaning service or grocery delivery is likely

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<v Speaker 1>a lot less than you would be giving up by

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<v Speaker 1>going part time. If you stay full time but outsource

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<v Speaker 1>some tasks, you will still get more margin in your

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<v Speaker 1>life because you will have more time without a task

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<v Speaker 1>assigned to it, and you'll continue to get paid more

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<v Speaker 1>and get retirement contributions. Based on that higher salary. You

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<v Speaker 1>may also advance in your career. Faster than if you

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<v Speaker 1>are part time. Buying that 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 finds meaningfuler more meaningful than your work.

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<v Speaker 1>Otherwise you might be substituting one kind of labor for another,

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<v Speaker 1>but not in a way that makes any sort of

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<v Speaker 1>economic sense. Don't buy time to do lower paid work.

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<v Speaker 1>Buy time to do things that feel to you like

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<v Speaker 1>they are priceless. In the meantime, Laura, thanks for listening,

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

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<v Speaker 1>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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