10 Powerful Arguments to Renegotiate Your Work Hours!
3 December 2012
Read by 1529 persons
And be just as efficient at the office as with your children, your husband, and yourself...
How to balance professional life and the life of a woman, a mother? In a society where competition is rife, availability and devotion to one's company are expected, here are 10 powerful arguments to be just as efficient at the office and to find time for your children, your husband, yourself...
The idea you need to get your boss to accept is:
"I would like to arrive earlier...to leave earlier too!" And pick up the baby from daycare, your son from school sometimes, take my gym class at a decent hour and not at 9 pm when I'm exhausted... but that, needless to say, is not an acceptable argument to your boss!
Here are the (acceptable!) arguments:
1 - By arriving before everyone else, I'm not disturbed by untimely phone calls, no intruders in the office to distract me from my tasks, no coffee breaks with colleagues who haven't arrived yet, better attention, concentration, efficiency (it's scientifically proven)!
2 - No traffic jams either, so never late. No frustration, from early in the morning, I am zen and fully available for my work.
3 - In the morning, I have a nanny at home: my husband, who looks after his offspring and drops them off at school before going to work. In the evening, I pick up the children earlier, and it saves me money. Since pay rises aren't really on the agenda in these difficult times, are they boss?... it's a win-win for the company and for me!
4 - From the morning, I organize myself much better! I save time during the day by answering all pending emails, writing urgent notes and files, processing the large pile of documents that are always put off until later in the day due to lack of time, always dealing with the most urgent matters. Here, I'm calm, not distracted, and I get a lot of work done, believe me boss!
5 - At midday, I have a quick lunch and earlier than others. Well, yes, since I started my day earlier, I'm hungry before everyone else. So, I have my lunch out of sync, quickly, at my desk, and am not tempted by the canteen and its endless conversations, or its gossip inherent in every company. Anyway, gossip has never been my cup of tea boss... especially the gossip about management... And then, I'm at my post, can answer the phone, receive deliveries at the time when everyone has gone to lunch.
6 - To get up an hour earlier and work an hour earlier, I have to go to bed earlier. To boost myself with fruit juices and vitamins, to eat a balanced diet. Therefore, I am much fitter and more efficient, and I save my late-night outings and dinners for the weekend, because during the week, "No, sorry Sophie, it's not possible, I'm leaving for work early!" What we gain in efficiency, energy and sharpness you can't imagine boss!
7 - I avoid the big slump at 5 pm, when concentration starts to decline seriously. I don't worry about the children, the babysitter, the nanny, homework either, since at 5 pm, it's me who picks up the little ones, at daycare or at school. Plus, it boosts my morale. I don't even feel guilty anymore about not looking after my children enough... and I'm so grateful to my company and my boss for allowing me to flourish as a mother that I do twice as much work when I'm at my post, and I do everything to keep that post.
8 - With the advent of new technologies, my mobile phone, my 16 GB USB key, in case of a major emergency, I remain contactable. And I can even, exceptionally, finish that important report for your meeting the next day boss, from home. Even if that's not the aim of the work schedule change, we agree on that, it shouldn't be abused...
9 - Being fully available for my job in the morning allows me, by leaving earlier, to cope with unforeseen personal events at the end of the day, which is always more complicated. The youngest child who is ill and needs to be taken to the pediatrician. A dentist appointment that I can't fit in anywhere except at the end of the afternoon... the nanny who lost the keys to my house, or whose grandmother has just died... all that doesn't happen at 8 am boss!
10- And then, final powerful argument: I accept, for the same level and the same salary, to lose some of my responsibilities. I understand that not being present at late meetings may put me a little behind. But, for my personal fulfillment, it is important, now that I am a mother, that I refocus on my family life, after 10 years of loyal service. When the children are a little older and more independent, I will double my efforts to regain the lost ranks. In the meantime, thank you for allowing me to arrive and leave an hour earlier. You are the best boss, boss! And you won't regret it...
Elodie Trouve.
Femmezine.fr
Posted on December 3, 2012.
How to balance professional life and the life of a woman, a mother? In a society where competition is rife, availability and devotion to one's company are expected, here are 10 powerful arguments to be just as efficient at the office and to find time for your children, your husband, yourself...
The idea you need to get your boss to accept is:
"I would like to arrive earlier...to leave earlier too!" And pick up the baby from daycare, your son from school sometimes, take my gym class at a decent hour and not at 9 pm when I'm exhausted... but that, needless to say, is not an acceptable argument to your boss!
Here are the (acceptable!) arguments:
1 - By arriving before everyone else, I'm not disturbed by untimely phone calls, no intruders in the office to distract me from my tasks, no coffee breaks with colleagues who haven't arrived yet, better attention, concentration, efficiency (it's scientifically proven)!
2 - No traffic jams either, so never late. No frustration, from early in the morning, I am zen and fully available for my work.
3 - In the morning, I have a nanny at home: my husband, who looks after his offspring and drops them off at school before going to work. In the evening, I pick up the children earlier, and it saves me money. Since pay rises aren't really on the agenda in these difficult times, are they boss?... it's a win-win for the company and for me!
4 - From the morning, I organize myself much better! I save time during the day by answering all pending emails, writing urgent notes and files, processing the large pile of documents that are always put off until later in the day due to lack of time, always dealing with the most urgent matters. Here, I'm calm, not distracted, and I get a lot of work done, believe me boss!
5 - At midday, I have a quick lunch and earlier than others. Well, yes, since I started my day earlier, I'm hungry before everyone else. So, I have my lunch out of sync, quickly, at my desk, and am not tempted by the canteen and its endless conversations, or its gossip inherent in every company. Anyway, gossip has never been my cup of tea boss... especially the gossip about management... And then, I'm at my post, can answer the phone, receive deliveries at the time when everyone has gone to lunch.
6 - To get up an hour earlier and work an hour earlier, I have to go to bed earlier. To boost myself with fruit juices and vitamins, to eat a balanced diet. Therefore, I am much fitter and more efficient, and I save my late-night outings and dinners for the weekend, because during the week, "No, sorry Sophie, it's not possible, I'm leaving for work early!" What we gain in efficiency, energy and sharpness you can't imagine boss!
7 - I avoid the big slump at 5 pm, when concentration starts to decline seriously. I don't worry about the children, the babysitter, the nanny, homework either, since at 5 pm, it's me who picks up the little ones, at daycare or at school. Plus, it boosts my morale. I don't even feel guilty anymore about not looking after my children enough... and I'm so grateful to my company and my boss for allowing me to flourish as a mother that I do twice as much work when I'm at my post, and I do everything to keep that post.
8 - With the advent of new technologies, my mobile phone, my 16 GB USB key, in case of a major emergency, I remain contactable. And I can even, exceptionally, finish that important report for your meeting the next day boss, from home. Even if that's not the aim of the work schedule change, we agree on that, it shouldn't be abused...
9 - Being fully available for my job in the morning allows me, by leaving earlier, to cope with unforeseen personal events at the end of the day, which is always more complicated. The youngest child who is ill and needs to be taken to the pediatrician. A dentist appointment that I can't fit in anywhere except at the end of the afternoon... the nanny who lost the keys to my house, or whose grandmother has just died... all that doesn't happen at 8 am boss!
10- And then, final powerful argument: I accept, for the same level and the same salary, to lose some of my responsibilities. I understand that not being present at late meetings may put me a little behind. But, for my personal fulfillment, it is important, now that I am a mother, that I refocus on my family life, after 10 years of loyal service. When the children are a little older and more independent, I will double my efforts to regain the lost ranks. In the meantime, thank you for allowing me to arrive and leave an hour earlier. You are the best boss, boss! And you won't regret it...
Elodie Trouve.
Femmezine.fr
Posted on December 3, 2012.
