My son’s preschool is on Spring Break which is slowing me down on the blog this week. This will be short.
Re: Jane
I did a post last week about my friend Jane’s request for a four-day work week. After several months of cajoling and paperwork, her request was officially approved this week! Go Jane go!
Re: The White House
The White House just released a report today making the economic case for more workplace flexibility, which it says “can potentially boost productivity, improve morale, and benefit the U.S. economy.” (And most of us would be much happier.) I love those guys!
Re: This blog
I try to post about three times a week, but there is no set schedule.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Go Jane, Go! Terrific! Fewer working hours makes a BIG difference to parents. Congratulations.
Thank you for the White House report – i will share with my boss & head of HR. Timely, as in my annual review today I communicated my need to work from home 1 day/week (I work 80% time, and need 1 of those days/week to be at home). As I asked, I burst into tears (yes, in my one:one with my male EVP/General Manager boss), because the topic clearly struck a cord: those extra 2 hours of non-commute time 1 day/week mean I can be balanced/present/get-down-on-the-floor-and-play/there-for-my-3-year-old-son-when-he-pees-on-the-potty-at-8am Mom that I want to be. And, for my boss, it means difference for me between seeing a path to 2 or 3 years in this role vs. feeling like i won’t even be able to eek it out for a couple more months. He was completely receptive – Mondays from home, it is. I guess sometimes you just need to ask. On a related note, last night I was feeling totally guilty (after coming home at 4:30), for going to a 7pm brazilian dance class – but i justified it because I am modeling “taking care of myself,” which, as it turned out was the right decision because after the kick-butt brazilian dance class I was on top of the world. Why is it that “taking care of ourselves” so hard to do sometimes, as moms?
Hurray for you and your boss! Who cares if you cried. It’s probably not a bad thing for them to know how important this is. Besides, you got what you wanted and needed. Yay!
Thanks for all the support!
Liz – I had to practice my request for days before I had the guts to ask. And I cried every time. So happy you got it on your first try!