Has anyone left a well paid responsible job & gone part time & been better for it?

[MsMiaWallace]

Seriously considering a move for my mental health.
Currently work 10hr shifts full time. Public facing uniformed role. Middle management position.

Am seriously considering a move elsewhere.
Has anyone took a pay cut/hours & been much better for it?

I did over 10years ago and never looked back. It was quite a big pay drop but I was very stressed and burnt out and I ended up walking away from my career. I discussed it with DH and we both decided the drop in pay was worth it and we came up with a plan as to how to manage the reduced finances. Have to say never been tempted to go back. One of the best things I ever did.

Good question OP - I'm also interested in this...

I did quit a high stress role altogether and do similar, i did slightly regret it and feel I should've pushed ahead/leant in at some points, the ambition beast you can sometimes slay permanently but if the stress is getting to you but you're overall still ambitious, I'd think about other routes to reduce stress, any sideways moves, or even pushing for promotion if it reduced aspects of your job you don't like and allowed you to outsource more.

So my question would be - you've invested a lot in your job, you've gotten quite far, if you're going off track, are you confident you'll be happy with that in 5 years?

What is the push factor - is it strictly job stress or is it the family workload on top, kids struggling etc?

I went from a 60 hour corporate job to being a primary school teacher. I’m full time, but that means I work 8:30-3:30, 9 days out of 10, locally, with the remaining 1 day wfh. It certainly feels like part time to me!

I couldn’t be happier OP, go for it.

I did, but a long time ago.

I was a Pharmaceutical Sales Manager on £50k plus bonus, car, pension etc 20 years ago.

But it was long days and lots of travel to conferences and meetings. It just didn't work when I became a mum so I packed it in.

Since then I've been a Teaching Assistant and worked in a Bank, Building Society and now in admin. I only earn £25k, admittedly with a good pension, but have no stress or responsibility. I love it and have never been happier.

However I only have the luxury to do this because DH works and earns much more.

Yeah I freelance and love it. I work a lot less hours than I used to in a big job, but I actually have a better hourly rate. If you have a niche that can be spun into self employment/freelancing then I say go for it.

I went from full time primary teaching (around 50 hours a week in term time for me and loads of stress - don't know how you do it in the time you say @DogsAndGin !) To a 0.5 role as a university lecturer which is way less stress and more interesting. Colleagues who have a research strand find it stressful but I really enjoy it so far and the reduced hours are great. I never want to work full-time again.

I have never met a teacher in my life doing the hours Gin claims to be doing. Not one. Is this some new 'come and be a teacher, it's great!' marketing strategy? 😂

Yes. I feel better and can manage better. I do worry about my pension a bit though.
I also found the pay cut didnt impact as much as i thought because of the way tax works.

@Onionpatch this is what worries me, I do the sums and think that I could afford it now, but earning less would mean my pension would be worth less and I might regret it when I can't do all the things I want to do when I retire. Equally though I might get to pension age, not feel the urge to live other than modestly, and wish I'd had more time to do things when I was younger. It's a dilemma.

I have because I wanted to spend time with my children. It was a huge pay drop and we've had tough times but we've managed. I don't regret it one bit but I do know that I've lost 95% of my confidence, the high flyer I once was, seems like a completely different person to the person I am now.

No, but I dropped a day and decided to just do my job. I arrived on time, left in time, took my full 30 mins lunch, and didn’t get involved in drama.
Sleep so much better now.

I did, moved from a very pressured senior management role to a very different job with regular hours and a lower salary. I then went part time in that job and now run my own business while working part time. I did it primarily because we were adopting children and my job was totally incompatible with children who would need consistency and support but doing so has given me time and flexibility to meet my kids needs (most importantly) but has also opened up other opportunities because I had the time and energy to pursue other interests.

We worked out that we could afford the drop in income, but 7 years later my income now matches my old post but I’m much less pressured.