LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST...

Smart Time Working not Part Time Working!

I have been thinking about this a lot recently probably because of my current obsession, Lean In. 

Earlier this year I went to an event that Anna Rafferty (Penguin Digital MD) put on for Seth Godin's new book. One of the things that he said there really hit home, (and I paraphrase) "In this globalized economy there will always be somebody who is willing to do your job and work longer hours for less money. "  The point being that if you make it all about the hours that you work, you will always lose. In fact it is impossible to win. You have to make it about the impact that you have. not the hours that you work. 

Today I had lunch with another brilliant woman, Kathryn Parsons of Decoded fame (and Veuve Cliquot Young Businesswoman of the Year 2013) where we talked about a million different things but one of them was what happens when women have kids and potentially want to decrease the number of hours that they work a week. As I was talking to her it suddenly hit me how much I hate the term "part-time" to describe what I do. I do a four day week but like every other professional working mum that I know the focus and dedication that I have during those 4 days (and evenings) means that I achieve more in those 4 days than I ever used to in 5.

The descriptor "part-time" is just wrong.

Take Nicola Mendelsohn for example. Nicola has worked a 4 day week for the past 15 years and is now taking up an EMEA role at Facebook on a 4 day week and I bet there's absolutely nothing "part-time" about her approach, ambition and determination.

Maybe it's time for a new descriptor of those of us who work shorter weeks? "Compressed-Time"? " Condensed-Time"? Not sure what the right words are, but "part-time" is just plain wrong.

EDITED over-night:

I think that a 4 day week should be considered: "Smart-Time" working, not "Part-Time" working

Off On Maternity Leave: Future-Baby due in 3 weeks

It felt very very odd on Friday evening packing up my desk and boxing away my files. Despite being ready to slow down, nap during the day and generally prepare for the tiny whirlwind that awaits us it almost felt sad leaving the agency. It's been such a busy and exciting 18 months at work that I don't know how you just switch it all off. I guess when Future-Baby actually arrives it probably becomes much easier to forget about work for a while, or at least priorities shift.

There have been a lot of jokes about whether I would be live-blogging or tweeting from the delivery room (which I can assure you I will not) but all this Social Media stuff has been such a part of my life for such a chunk of time that I can really image not using Twitter etc. It's been a bit of a life-line during pregnancy what with early morning insomnia etc etc. I found that I still felt connected to a wider community even at 3am.

From the mums that I know devices like iPhones and Blackberrys suddenly take on a whole new level of importance because for the first few weeks/months its hard to get out and about and even hard to find time to sit down in front of a computer.

I just wanted to thank all those folks who tweeted with me and wished me luck. It made my last train journey home rather lovely. Some of you I know in real life (some I've known for a long time, others are newer friends), some I feel like I know through Twitter etc but have never actually met and some of you I hadn't really spoken before but to all of you, thank you.

I guess that the tone of this blog might be a bit more baby-related over the coming months and I hope that's ok. Though like Iain I have apprehensions about sharing too much so will try not to be a baby-bore.

it's certainly the calm before the storm in our house.

Exciting times.