Well I am very very pleased to report that as of 1st December, I shall be undertaking a brand spanking new contract at work. And I think I’ve nailed this ‘time’ problem I’ve been mooching over for the past few months. You see, on the 1st December my working week will be shrunk down to four days, instead of five. And there’s a very good chance that at least one of those four days will be spent working at home.
You may remember that I blogged about how my office base was moving from Bedford to Northampton. And about the extra 30 or so miles a day of commuting I’d have to do. Well I’m very pleased that I’ve managed to wangle a new contract. There were two contract offers on the table - a four day week on my current salary pro rata with my travelling expenses included, or a five day week with my current salary and expenses included.
I just felt like four days was the way to go. I’m hoping my ‘day off’ will be Friday, that way I’ll have a three day weekend. Actually, strictly that’s not true. Because I’m hoping to use Friday as my freelance day, so I can really concentrate on my projects. I can make in a morning or 2-3 hours what I make in a day at work, which will make up the ‘defecit’ of working one less day. It’s just the volume of freelance work isn’t there to sustain me for a whole working week, otherwise I think that’s what I’d be doing instead.
So I feel like I’ve found a good middle ground. I’ve got a guaranteed income, and time to do my own work to bring in more money, and more time for more projects. Physically, I’ve been struggling with working on a computer solidly for five days a week. It causes all sorts of problems, and even though my workplace have been so accommodating trying to help me out, give me room to do stretches, equipment etc, I’m just not built to be on a computer all of the time. And now I don’t have to!
At least this way, for three days of the week I can pick and choose what I want to do, how I do it (sometimes I write my articles on pen and paper and then type them up quickly), and what’s more, I’ll have more flexibility to put more time and effort into my own freelance projects. And my Smallest Smallholding too.
I’m so pleased. Although I’ll be commuting further for three or four days a week, this feels right. At the moment, it feels like a step in the right direction. It just goes to show, sometimes things work out much better than you could have ever expected.
October 25th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Great to hear you sounding positive - hope it all goes well Lucy.
Hey - have a glass of sloe gin to celebrate
Best wishes
Celia
October 25th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Hurrah! Good for you, Lucy. Hope it works out.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
This all sounds very good for you, an extra day off a week can make all the difference I find
October 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Your life is about to take the best turn you could hope for. I know that making life changing choices can be hard. Good luck with the new way of working.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I’m very glad for you.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Brilliant news, well done.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Sounds good, guard your precious time though! When I started a four day week everyone seemed to think that it meant I would have more time to do more stuff (unpaid!) for them. Love the duffel coat by the way.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Congratulations with the new contract Lucy! That sounds very good indeed! Hopefully your off-day will be Friday, or Monday even, adding an extra to your weekend - I’m sure you can do with that!
I love the photo of the cosmos flower (as I know it anyway). We got married when the cosmos were in full flower, so it has a special meaning to us.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Congratulations!
I could see from your posts over the last few months you were ready for a change, for something to happen.
I’m really pleased for you!