June 3, 2017 at 7:00 am by Angela
Yes, you read correctly – this a post about why I took my laptop away with me on holiday (in this case a long weekend break to Woburn Center Parcs) rather than leave it at home. It feels a little counter-intuitive I’m sure since holidays are supposed to be a time for taking a break. But if you give me a second to explain then you’ll see that is exactly the reason why I chuck (/ carefully slip in a travel case and pack securely in a rucksack) my old faithful MacBook Air in my luggage when we head away.
My writing view on our last weekend break.
May 6, 2017 at 7:15 am by Angela
I knew I wanted to go back to work part-time from before Little H was born. A couple of weeks before my maternity leave started my boss and I even had an informal conversation about what I was thinking and he told me that he could not see any reason why a formal request would not be accepted. Early in my maternity leave I had some moments where I missed my job. Then later, as I had adapted to caring for Little H, I had moments where I doubted my decision. But once I was back in the office in January 2016, I was pretty confident I had made the right decision for me*.
April 26, 2017 at 6:20 am by Angela
Tuesday 18th April 2017:
06:00 – I’m in the middle of a dream when the alarm goes off at our usual work time. It’s a shock after the ‘lazy’ (well, in parent terms) Easter weekend mornings have taken their toll because I struggle to drag myself out of bed. I down a load of water and then start the getting-ready process.
March 22, 2017 at 6:25 am by Angela
It’s February 2016 and I’ve been back at work after Maternity Leave for about three weeks. One of the female managers who I don’t really know asks me how I’m getting on. I’m honest and say it’s good to be back but it’s a bit of a shock to the system and I’m still finding my way. She nods empathetically and then says to me “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have it all. You can. I’ve never met any group of people more productive than working mothers.”. It was meant with a helpful and supportive sentiment and it was a positive thing to hear. However, I’m not sure if it was necessarily the right thing for me to here. You see, in the last 14 months I have pondered a lot on life and balance. And on that phrase that gets thrown at all new mothers:
“You can have it all.”
February 25, 2017 at 7:45 am by Angela
I have kept a Gratitude Journal since the start of 2016. Over that year it made a MASSIVE difference to my mental attitude; I now more naturally see the positive in things. My blog is a place to share thoughts and opinions. But more than that, it’s a place I record life so I can look back in the future and remember how things were. Whilst I will always have my private journals, in January 2017 I also decided to take a leaf out the books of other bloggers and create a monthly gratitude feature. Here’s what I am grateful for this month:
September 17, 2016 at 9:43 pm by Angela
These questions are getting tougher by the ‘day’. I’m not even a quarter of the way through and I’ve hit a tough one:
6. Something you’re proud of in the past few days
I’ve been considering lots of different things in my head and I keep coming back to feeling proud because “H did x” or “H said y”. But they aren’t things I’ve done that I’m proud of, which is what I think the question really means. But sitting down now to write this post, I’ve realised what I’m really proud of sitting here on the sofa, right here, right now. I’m proud of getting through this week!
June 9, 2016 at 8:00 pm by Angela
I read a lot of blog posts and articles online and whilst I share a lot of them through tweets, it’s easy to miss them and hard to come back to them at another time. So another monthly feature I’m introducing (along with my ‘Five Favourite Finds‘) is a list of my top ten reads for the month. They will be a mixture of formal news articles and blog posts. Enjoy!
May 5, 2016 at 8:30 am by Angela
As a long time commuter, I know it’s easy to dwell on the negatives of commuting: the cost, the time, the delays, the horror of being rammed next to a stranger closer than you get to most relatives… I will openly admit that the one thing I really wish I could change about my job is my commute. But…it’s not all bad. Since returning from Maternity Leave I’ve reached a new level of commute-appreciation. So next time you feel anger at having to spend in excess of an hour / day on a train for half your salary, bear these things in mind:
Uninterrupted reading time: How often in life do you find yourself with a clear half an hour to read with no-one crying, nagging, grovelling for a biscuit or knowing deep-down that you should be dealing with the washing-up/ironing/dusting/folding/insert another chore from the never-ending list here. Even now I only commute three days a week, I can get an amazing chunk of my book read in my half hour train ride!;
April 29, 2016 at 8:39 pm by Angela
Sitting watching TV yesterday evening, I realised it had been over a week since my last blog post. I’m not one of these people who strives to blog to a schedule but I do try and write something new each week. However, over the last week, during the little free time I’ve had, my brain has struggled to function. Fueled on tea I have had a very productive working week, but that followed by Mummy Duties at home have meant that now the week is at it’s end I have used up all energy reserves.
April 12, 2016 at 11:35 am by Angela
I have been a part-time worker for almost three months now. People working a shorter week had never bothered me in my pre-Motherhood existence and I have anyways found it easy to schedule things in with a bit of thought and planning. I am now experiencing the reactions of others first hand though and it has been quite interesting; Most colleagues are happy to embrace and accommodate my working hours whilst some aren’t bothered by it but just forget my different availability and sometimes end up with some last-minute organisational challenges. But then very occasionally I get more extreme reaction where the annoyance fact that I’m not always available is visible on someone’s face. I’ve also been subjected to various comments, some jovial and others serious, such as “Enjoy your day off!”, “Hmm, yes it’s a bit inflexible.” and so on. It made me think about some pre-conceptions I feel many people have about part-time working. So for those of you out there who work with colleagues on part-time hours, here are some points to bear in mind:
