Cheers to flexible work arrangements! Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.

National Flex Day

Tuesday, 16 October 2018, is National Flex Day. Have you heard of it?

According to an article by Rachel Jay at FlexJobs.com, flexible work is “any type of job or work schedule that gives workers more control over their workday and therefore over their personal life.” Ms. Jay goes on to include freelance gigs, remote work (aka telecommuting), part-time jobs, alternative schedules, and flexible schedules as examples of flexible work.

National Flex Day, which began in 2013, is designed to encourage employers and employees to unite behind and raise awareness of the need for more flexibility in our work schedules and circumstances.

National Boss’s Day

Today is also National Boss’s Day. If you have a boss who supports flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, part-time scheduling, or job sharing, be sure to express your gratitude and let others know what a supportive boss you have. I’ve worked part-time for three employers in a span of more than 20 years. Be encouraged that there are supportive employers out there.

As I wrote in my Boss’s Day post last year, all of my supervisors have completely supported my part-time employment status. We need to raise awareness that flexible work can be a win-win situation for both employee and employer.

If you don’t have a boss who supports flexible work, today is the day to let her/him know about National Flex Day and raise awareness of the awesomeness of work flexibility.

We Need More Professional Part-time Jobs

I read an interesting article the other day. In her post We need more professional part-time jobs, Femme Cents suggests some contributing factors to the lack of part-time professional jobs (relative to full-time positions) and calls for employers to do better about offering professionals a part-time option.

If you’ve read most any of the articles on this blog, you know that I work part-time and have done so since the mid-1990s, when my first child was born. My experiences have included job sharing, on call part-time, regularly scheduled part-time, and telecommuting for three different employers. I wrote about it last year on 2017’s National Flex Day.

The whole purpose behind starting this blog, Downsize Your 2080, is best stated in my tagline: Design Your Work Year to Create the Life You Want. You can find links to many of my first year of posts in my recent article One Year of Encouraging Professionals to Work Part-Time! For Me, It Started with a Baby or in the archive.

For today’s article, though, I thought it would be fun to celebrate National Flex Day by sharing posts written by other bloggers who have already implemented a flexible work arrangement or have provided related information. If you’re a blogger and want to be added, leave a note in the comments or email me via my contact page.

Personal Finance Bloggers Who Have Written About Flexible Work Arrangements

Part-Time Schedule

After becoming a mother, Angela at Tread Lightly, Retire Early chose a part-time schedule with her employer. She wrote about it in her post Live Like You’re Financially Independent (Even When You’re Not).

• “Monday through Friday was a blur, and the weekends were for catch-up on chores and errands we didn’t have time for during the week.”  (I agree, Angela. A part-time schedule helps in so many ways.)

Physician on Fire is an anesthesiologist who has been working part-time for the past year. He shared two posts with me: So Long, Full Time Employment!, written as he made the switch, and Six Months of Part Time Work. Or How I’ll Save $60,000 on Taxes in 2018, which describes his typical work schedule and makes observations of how his part-time schedule has impacted his finances and family life (hint: it’s all good).

• “I may not be working as much, but I’m clearly no less busy than I was before. I’m just busy doing more things I’ve been wanting to do, and less time doing the things I’ve felt I had to do. Financial independence has given us the freedom to make that choice.”

In I Own, blogger indeedably shares some cool graphics from charting personal data and discusses buying back your time.

• “The measure of wealth is time. I define the point at which I had “enough” as being when paying the bills no longer determined how I chose to invest my time. Investment income grants the ability to exchange those things I used to have to do with things I choose to do.”

In his post Dead Man Walkin!, Dave at Accidental Fire tells of his switch to a part-time schedule after realizing he’d had enough, he is financially independent, and he didn’t HAVE to work full-time anymore. He offers some follow-up thoughts after a few months in What I Signed Up For.

• “I’m working 20 hours a week, usually two 10 hour days.  And I’m in charge of no one.  Two days of work, 5 days off.  A normal lifestyle flipped to opposite. Yes, overall it’s still bliss.”

Laurie at The Three Year Experiment has a great story because she has found a way to work part-time in education. I don’t want to give away her secret, but you can check her story out in The Secret to Earning Big Bucks in Education.

• “…while I’m a part-time worker, my hourly rate is high enough that I’d be a six-figure income earner if I worked full-time, year-round.”

Telecommute, Location Independent, and Freelance

Full Time Finance occasionally telecommutes already and describes a goal, plus some challenges, of recurring short-term periods of remote work in the post Contemplating Location Independence.

• “I know I want some location independence.  I want to travel to places and live there for some length of time.  But I also know working remotely is not always easy.”

Laura from Every Day on the Lake submitted her post Life Sans Cubicle: 6 Month Update. She describes her part-time remote work as she transitioned away from her previous employer and the success she’s having as she builds her location independent freelance business. From her intro page:

• “As you can see, even though I have left traditional full time employment, I remain extremely productive. Being able to work by my lake, on a flexible schedule and on things that really make my heart sing is absolutely priceless!”

Mrs. Picky Pincher recently executed her escape plan and left her traditional 9-5 job in the marketing industry. She prepared for her self-employment launch by using her weekends and evenings to build a freelance business.

• “I’ve worked in the marketing industry for over five years. In that time, I’ve always been an employee or full-time contractor. I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my future over the last five years. I’ve also had the time to get to know myself. A huge factor in my decision to be self-employed is that I hate the 9-to-5 culture.”

Job Share

In one of the Physician on Fire’s articles, I became curious when I saw a reference to job sharing, a scenario I don’t hear about very often. I clicked through the link and learned that The Happy Philosopher is a physician who shares a full-time slot equally, meaning both physicians work half-time. The post A Physician’s Guide to Working Part Time has lots of insightful thinking.

• “I pose the following question: Are we designed to work full time or is this just convenient for society? I know we all adapt, but is it really an optimal way to live?”

Information from Related Posts

I visited the Women Who Money website to see what they’ve published recently. In Contract or Part-Time Work? The Smarter Way to Make More Money, Penny, from the Women Who Money team, wrote a helpful post for anyone trying to decide between working part-time as a regular employee vs. as a independent contractor (aka freelancer or consultant).

• “Understanding the differences between part-time and contract work, as well as the tax implications and the benefits and drawbacks, can help you make the best decision for your particular situation and interests.”

The Women Who Money team also published I Love Part-Time Work But How Do I Plan for Retirement?

Finally, touching upon a concern in the minds of many, I remember Lily from The Frugal Gene did some research in her recent post titled 16 Part Time Jobs with Good Health Insurance and Benefits.

• “This is something they never taught us in school when I feel like it’s one of the most important things to know. Please, please, please do not take for granted the ‘perks’ of a good job.”

How about you? Do you have a flexible work arrangement? Or are you seeking one? Please share in the comments section below.