Woke early worrying how to make the part-time thing work.
Looking forward through the year and adding up every odd day at home, still less than 18 weeks worth of ‘my time’, not exactly half of 52! Even adding a couple of weeks of non-essential travel into ‘my’ budget doesn’t make it add up.
More worrying is that the time is all chopped up. Just three solid months (and one of those is in July/August, maybe when I’d expect some research and holiday time anyway), the rest odd weeks split up with other commitments. the model I’m aiming for is nearer the US 9 month contract idea with big periods for research, but struggling to keep blocks clear.
Also I’ve noticed myself allocating things that should be ‘university business’ to ‘my time’ as I know they won’t get done otherwise. Got too used to doing the academic thing and planning time around assumption of 200% commitment averaging 80-90 hours a week. Now trying to squash that into 50% of my time – no wonder it is difficult!
As the half pay cheques start to mount, I need to start to be ruthless.
Part time work requires significant discipline. You have to rejiggering your own expectations and those of others. I have
it helps to always keep your priorities in mind. For instance for me I have decided that as the main cater my family always comes first. So I prioritize my time accordingly. For others the priority might be bringing in dish. Obviously these priorities can change but I reckon limiting yourself to reviewing them weekly is a good discipline! The other thing is to learn some time managemention skills ” Getting things done” by David Allen is excellent. Amazing how one can enhance ones productivity with a few heuristics. Also reduces worry & stress…. Don’t believe in worrying myself. Download it to a to do list instead!