When I was at school, my uncle – himself a judge – told me that I should definitely become a judge. He said there is no better profession where you can balance family and work, especially as a woman. I didn’t follow his advice, but when I entered the exciting field of live communication ten years ago, again there was a cautionary finger-wagging by my mother. At the time, she told me that this was not a family-friendly profession. And so, long before I had children of my own, I kept hearing how difficult it was to balance family and career, especially in my line of work.
So when I knew that I wanted to enrich my life with children at some point, I assumed, based on all the negative voices, that I would probably have to leave the industry and thus PLANWORX. But before I even got pregnant, I got to be there as we as an agency said goodbye to “normal” work. In 2015 (i.e. long before Corona) we started the experiment
“WORK WHERE YOU WANT, WORK WHEN YOU WANT, BUT DO YOUR JOB WITH DEDICATION, (SELF-) RESPONSIBILITY, AND PASSION”.
For me, this opened up a certain glimmer of hope. Maybe continuing to work as a mother at PLANWORX would work out after all?
In 2018 and 2020, my two daughters were born, so by now I have returned even twice! And both times, what surprised me most, was what I didn’t have to experience compared to other working moms.
It was rumored time and again that one would no longer be needed as a so-called “part-time mother”, that one would only be given a few responsible tasks and that, in short, one would be placed somewhere on the sidelines.
I experienced it quite differently.
Even before the agreed return dates, they called me and asked if I didn’t want to come sooner. Barely back, the central questions were, “How much do you like to work? What jobs do you want to take during this time?”
I was able to take on new exciting tasks and, above all, find out how to manage work and family they way it works for me.
It’s true: family + career is a balancing act, which is very exhausting to perform. Because, in effect, you’re doing two jobs. To reconcile these, a lot of (self-)organization, communication, and discipline is needed. But all this is not enough, because 90% of the time, life as a family can be organized and planned – but unfortunately 10%of volatility remain. If the childminder spontaneously drops out, the child’s nose starts running, or the kindergarten is closed at short notice due to staff training, the appointment juggling begins, and stress levels rise.
The colleagues react with absolute understanding, but the work still has to be done. In such moments, freedom and trust are also needed. The freedom of not being tied to a regular work schedule/location and the confidence that I’m doing my job, even if people can’t look over my shoulder.
Both are available here with us, at PLANWORX. And so this balancing act can also be managed as a “part-time mom/dad”, thanks in particular to mobile working and flexible working hours.