To ask how you switch off from work (part time) or do I need to say something here about workload.

[ItsAllBlahBlahBlah]

Just struggling abit after rtw from maternity. I've been back seven weeks or so now and had been off for a long time due to sickness at the end of my pregnancy. Oh and I've changed jobs (!), although in the same wider team and still have the same manager. I'm a manager myself but only one direct report who is also brand new to this team. I currently working three days pw but my predecessor did four days but was also inclined to work through the evenings quite often which I don't feel I can do with two kids 3 and under. My manager has been quite supportive when offering me the new role and said all the right things, that the role would be tailored as they don't expect me to be able to attend all of the meetings as my predecessor etc but after days like yesterday I feel like I'm already disappointing them. I've now logged off for the weekend but can't switch my brain off from worrying about next week.
I don't know what to do as I can't afford not to do this job, I'm not sure anyone would be so flexible and pay the same (it's not a huge sum but it's fair and rare they've been so flexible). I don't want to go to four days either. I feel if I say something I will be talking myself out of a job but think somehow if I don't they will end up just criticising the fact I'm not performing the same as my predecessor. I also have a habit of worrying too much so with lack of sleep and trying to catch up on training myself i wonder if I'm beating myself up for something I shouldn't be.

Is anyone else part time and can offer some advice how to switch off and not drag work through the weekend.

Not quite the same but I teach part time.. though quite a high % which means I'm there most of the time. I am militant about not doing anything work related in the couple of hours a week I am not being paid. If someone tries to set up a meeting in that slot I say no and why. I will go for a walk, go and sit and haw a coffee, run an errand, whatever, but I won't work. Your company have accepted your terms of 3 days so do what you do and do it well. If they have issues they can raise them professionally and discuss solutions but they obviously value you to have kept you on. Remember you are a competent professional, they are not doing you a favour by letting you work.

Thanks. I guess you are right. I think yesterday was a bad day and I've had a massive wobble about it all

Have you got the same workload as your predecessor? If they worked four days a week plus evenings then I'm guessing they had a full-time workload with no allowance for the reduction in hours - which is rubbish but quite common for four days. It's not really doable for three days, though. If you're trying to do a full workload in 60% of the time (and for 60% of the pay) then I do think you need to talk about it to your manager as they're not being flexible, they're being unrealistic.

Your company have accepted your terms of 3 days so do what you do and do it well. If they have issues they can raise them professionally and discuss solutions but they obviously value you to have kept you on. Remember you are a competent professional, they are not doing you a favour by letting you work.

I agree. You are not being paid to spend today worrying. I do 3 days a week in a new role that was always PT, but previously I was in a job where I moved down from 5 to 3 after having a baby. You do have to just effectively grit your teeth, remind yourself you can't be expected to shoulder full time responsibilities on 3 days pay, and not be a people-pleaser.

I'm sure it doesn't help having a brand new line report though! Do they have someone to go to on your days off?

Yes @Hardbackwriter my predecessor pretty much did five days on four from what I can now see. My manager has said they will review my meeting schedule etc as quite frankly it's ridiculous, it leaves me no time to actually do any work, and I can't attend any on my two days off. But yesterday my senior manager said something in a meeting along the lines of 'let's not let all the work (predecessor) did be undone' and I feel like I'm just going to be set up to fail.

@ItsAllBlahBlahBlah

Yes *@Hardbackwriter* my predecessor pretty much did five days on four from what I can now see. My manager has said they will review my meeting schedule etc as quite frankly it's ridiculous, it leaves me no time to actually do any work, and I can't attend any on my two days off. But yesterday my senior manager said something in a meeting along the lines of 'let's not let all the work (predecessor) did be undone' and I feel like I'm just going to be set up to fail.

The meeting thing is tough - people try and move meetings to your working days so you can go to them, but as you've said that then leaves you with no time to actually work. I only went from five to four days and really found that - my boss insisted that my non-working day was a Friday as we have fewer meetings then, which sounded fine but I then realised that I'd lost the day where there was actually a chance to get my head down and do some work that required a big chunk of time to think through. It's a hard one to fix, though - there's always a reason why this or that particular meeting is apparently essential.

I work a rota of 3 days or 4 in an office based role. I have similar aged children and feel I am fairly good at being strict with maintaining the right balance. There isn’t a day goes by where the thought doesn’t cross my mind that there is something I ‘could’ log on and do that evening but I think about whether I’d have wanted to stay late in the office to finish it as a way of deciding, part of the problem is it’s now easier to work extra with laptops at home. A few other things to think about, could you decide you will log on in an evening one day a week where you know you can work without anything else coming in (hopefully) but take that time back during the day for a long lunch or something? There is some extra work in being part time because you have to catch up every week and sometimes I will check emails the night before my days start to check if the to do list for the week is going to be hugely derailed by something that has come in on my days off. I draft replies and send them in the morning so as not to present having worked at night. Sorry this isn’t the most coherent response, just a few things to think about. I hope that when the days off actually come your DC are sufficient distraction, I never do work on my actual days off.

Thanks it's nice to hear that noone things I should be doing more. I think as a manager the expectation is often there. There are some useful tips too, thanks.
I haven't had a single lunch break since I've been back and some days I am in meetings 6.5 hours out of my 7.2!

I used to do three days and it can be hard to mentally leave it for the week when you finish . I did Monday to Wednesday so it really did feel like I was walking out half way through.

What I did do was set up an excel / google doc work log that I shared with my boss.
It documented at a ‘top level’ the projects I had on and used a ‘traffic light system’ so it could be seen at a glance where things were. So...
Project name
Deadline
Very Brief detail
Key stake holders
Team member supporting
Status (on track-amber, delivered-Green, delayed-red)
Notes - to explain the status

I would send it to my boss an hour before I finished with a note to say what my priorities were for Monday so she could query anything and let me know while I was away if those priorities changed.

The doc also helped to highlight when things were with others to progress or for update / sign off so no one could try to say they didn’t know the status was or blame my PT hours for lack of progression as i worked hard to manage timings so it wasn’t sat on my desk for two days.

In terms of the meetings, can you start pushing back on these and ask if they can’t be emails instead? Often there is a culture of everything has to be a collective discussion and nothing actually gets done while everyone is a bloody meeting

I'm following this as I'll be ending maternity leave in August and going back for 4 days. Really good advice here. I also already feel like I'm being set up for a fail- they have removed many of my more senior responsibilities and said they want to review after 3 months if I should remain in the same salary due to my diminished responsibility. Oh and I just found out they have replaced a more junior person in the department I am a director of... with another director 'and she may choose to may some changes but you'll be included in that conversation'. I've been there for 12 years! I am trying to remember I am not being paid to worry right now.

Gosh @jezzballs2000 that's rubbish. Salary review was something I'm worried about too.

Blimey. That’s a lot of meetings.

Is it worth doing a bit of a time study for a week or so to highlight the amount of time spent in meetings vs actually delivering the work?

I work PT (usually 4 days but currently spread over 5 days as WFH and it’s easier with school). I do answer messages from the colleague I work most closely with, but I think that’s because I’ve got a stupidly good memory and can say in seconds where we are with a particular case. I don’t mind as it make bit our lives easier and a quick WhatsApp isn’t too instructive.

We also use an online card system called trello which means that when I’m not in the office it pings me a summary email of what’s been updated since I was last in.

Have a chat with your boss abs it seems like your predecessor was doing the work of two people over 4 days and they’re expecting even more from you.

It’s a staffing problem.

Sorry I missed your question @Ellpellwood yes my direct report can speak to someone else in my days off.

@Singlebutmarried do you think by bringing it up I am just admitting I won't work to the predecessors standard because I feel like I am being treated soft. I'm really worried people have a lesser opinion of me because I am already harder to get hold of and am pushing back on meetings. I have literally zero time to invest in anything 100%. I'm worried I'm talking myself out of a job

Shamelessly bumping incase anyone else has any more advice

I think your colleagues and managers might absolutely think that, but who cares? You don't tackle it directly in case they think that, and it won't get any better. And they'll continue with their perceptions of you not pulling your weight.

I think your only reasonable option is to tackle this head-on and proactively. It's just a you 'personal' thing either - the business isn't getting what it needs or getting the most value from you.

If you look at your time and come up with a plan to do the role in a more effective way, there's no guarantee it goes down well, but any reasonable manager would love your proposal.

I think it's the old cliche about providing solutions and a reasonable plan, rather than presenting problems.

Good luck!

Surely the only way it will work is to have another manager sharing load and doing work the two days your off. Preset hard to be a part time manager

You are of course right but I suppose the only other thing to think about is whether doing extra work is the norm for other people at your pay grade. I am four days. I am a teacher and most people work outside their set hours. Doing the job well requires some work outside of my hours checking and replying to emails is really the basic stuff. I think you should set some boundaries but also reflect on the culture of the company, your happiness in that role or not, your need to work and whether the pay and conditions suit. Would it be different elsewhere? Can a decent job be done in 3 days? I am not saying it is right for you to work in your free time but many, many jobs do require it. You have to think about whether other aspects make up for it. I am also someone who likes my working day to feel organised. If I didn't prep as much at home, I wouldn't have that

@ItsAllBlahBlahBlah

Shamelessly bumping incase anyone else has any more advice

I do think you should bring it up. But don’t do it in a frame of reference to the previous colleague.

Just go through everything you have on, what you believe the priorities are and what can be delivered (and therefore what can’t, but keep on the can / positive).

If / when the last colleague gets brought up, dont then go into justify and explain mode of why you won’t be paid to work PT but actually work every day and most evenings.

Instead, switch it around on the business/ senior managers as to why that person was made to feel they had to do that and was it a lack of support etc?

You can do it ‘nicely’ and in a sort of way that suggests you think it was others in the business rather than the manager you’re talking to IYKWIM?

Ultimately IMO most business will take the utter piss, want to pay you as little as possible but make you feel you have to work all the waking hours and be grateful for it.
You need to stand your ground and make sure you regularly check in with management to show things aren’t slipping

Thanks @MimiSunshine that's really helpful advice. I will try to spin it more positively because tbh I feel I have been spiralling and perhaps more negative. I think my company are being totally unrealistic about what can be achieved. I am incredibly grateful to have been offered the role and do take it as a sign they wanted to keep me in the team as ultimately I would have looked elsewhere for a part time role otherwise. That said, if they expect me to work extra outside of checking the odd emails etc on unpaid days/evenings then I really don't want to do it. I've just got it in my head now that they are already thinking I'm slacking in my responsibilitys which imo seems unfair when in reality it's them that offered me the role - I didn't apply for it, I was contacted on maternity that my predecessor was moving on and due to a team reorg they thought this was the right position for me. I am qualified for the role, it's the lack of time that's an issue.

But yesterday my senior manager said something in a meeting along the lines of 'let's not let all the work (predecessor) did be undone' and I feel like I'm just going to be set up to fail.
Ouch!! That doesn’t sound good, if anything like this is said again could you agree and ask if there’s anything specific this relates to?
I’ve worked PT after maternity and it’s very hard to keep up with work and expectations, especially as you’re contracted to less hours than your predecessor. I know you’re probably your own hardest critic too - I certainly was! I know this isn’t what you want to hear but I rode out the nursery years at PT then went back upto FT hours it was much easier. It does sound like the ‘job’ is too big for your 3 days.

I work full time, but will chip in with a few suggestions..

1. if the process has been set up by your predecessor then it should only need maintenance now, so maybe make meetings 30 mins instead of an hour, fortnightly instead of weekly, attend for your slot and then say you have other priorities and need to dial off. If you are just listening in and don’t contribute then you don’t need to be on the call - get the minutes / actions sent to you
2. Alternate attendance with your team member, it will be valuable experience for them.
3. Before you leave the office for the weekend write down your tasks for Monday , it clears your head and relieves you of the stress of remembering them. You can then hit the ground running on a Monday
4. Say to people (or put on your ooo) that you only work 3 days a week , but if something is urgent and cannot wait until Monday text you. They never do as they can’t be bothered and it either goes away or they ask someone else (preferably named on your ooo) . It means you can always say there was support fir anything urgent, but no one wanted it !

Yeah unfortunately there's a truely rubbish culture at my work that if there's ever a question the answer is 'let's have a meeting' or 'OK, stick some time in the calendar!' it's ridiculous. I think I may have to draw up some suggestions for my workload based on what I know so far and run it by my manager at my next 121. I just need to start with what I can achieve before mentioning what I think will have to go. It's really not been helped by woeful IT set up since I returned and having a new starter to train. Once they are up a running independently it will make things easier but annoyingly a big project has popped up which needs to be responded to ASAP and it will inevitably end up with the BAU sliding. It just makes me wonder how often this might happen. Perhaps that's what I need to also speak about and bottom out.

@ItsAllBlahBlahBlah how's it all going now?

I work two different jobs and therefore part time in each and never work over my hours. What I often say to my team is I won't have time to do that and X so which would you like me to prioritise? We have a culture of everyone's hours are a team resource and therefore the team can decide the priorities. I also make sure that before I finish every day I have written a list of what I intend to return to next day or week so I can let it go. I then check emails on my next working day (never in advance) to see whether I need to re-prioritise in light of new work etc. I also regularly meet with my manager and have agreed with manager to cc them into emails from me to other senior staff saying I won't be able to look at this until X date so please ask someone else if it is urgent or let me know if you can find someone else to do Z to free me up to do this sooner.

I once worked somewhere where there was management pressure to do more than my hours. I discussed it with management and said I would have to leave as I'm not working for free. So glad I stood up for myself and the opportunity came up quickly to move on.