Between Stress and Semi-Retirement

This time last year my job involved driving an average of four hours per day. I bought food in take away containers. I stayed in motels every other week, and used the tiny disposable shampoo bottles. I opened the plastic wrappers on bars of soap. I made coffee in the motel room and no matter what the coffee maker situation was, this was always guaranteed to yield several items of garbage.

Suffering from imposter syndrome (thinking that I had got into my job by accident rather than merit) I worked seven days per week and didn't bill all my hours because I wasn't sure that I had been as productive as I should have been. I guess my employer must have liked my results because every time I was nearing the end of my client list I would be sent another inspector's client list and asked if I could expand into their region and take over their clients.

The result was that I was stressed out all the time. The job itself was great and I believe in the work the company does, but it wasn't allowing me to live the kind of life I wanted.

Less than a year ago I left that job for a lower paid position that I am extremely qualified for (so no need to worry about imposter syndrome!). I also decided to work part time instead of full time. In order to make my decision look more deliberate and impressive in the eyes of my peers and family I refer to my 'part-time' employment as 'semi-retirement'. I work 38 hours in 4 days, and have three days off per week. 

Since adopting this simpler life, I have been able to devote more energy to what I care about beyond my career. Mainly, the environment. I got myself into the zero-waste movement, and have a zero waste kitchen. This summer I have been bicycling to work almost every day. I use my car once per week. I have time to read about the issues. I email politicians. Because of my research I can have more intelligent conversations and have occasionally broken through to someone who was willing to do more but wasn't sure how. 

The past few weeks have been busy . As my time becomes more in demand and my levels of stress increase, so has the use of my car and my cravings for sugary or salty snacks wrapped in disposable wrapping. It is useful to notice that stress and a lack of time are so heavily linked to our reliance on convenience. The less time we have to fulfill our own personal needs, the less we care about the needs of others.

Working four days a week has been incredible for me. Five days per week going to school, then as an adult working five or seven days per week meant that the majority of my time belonged to someone else. Now I feel my life is mine and I have an adequate amount of time to pursue my hobbies, see friends and family, and sleep! By the time Monday rolls around I am looking forward to going back to work, and by the time I start looking forward to the weekend, I am already very close to it.

Working four days a week is not accessible to everyone, I know. My luck in life has gone up and down and this part of my life is clearly an up. There have been times, and I am sure there will be times in the future, where I needed to take all the hours I could get just to pay my rent. But if semi-retirement is accessible to you, and having more free time is appealing to you, then I highly recommend it. 

A cool way to approach it if you are paid hourly is to ask your boss for a raise. Then say you also want to work fewer hours per week. The employer spends less money paying you and they'll be getting a fresher and more productive you for the hours that you are working. It is a win for everyone.

Whatever your life struggles are; everything is temporary. If things are good, enjoy them while they last. If not, well, it's only a matter of time before things change.