Back to work update – time to get the party started
So I’m back to work (kind-of)… I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’d been offered some part-time work. Well, now it’s all kicking off for real. Last week I had my first ‘work meeting’ in almost 2 years! I dropped the Rascal off to visit Granny for a few hours, which unfortunately coincided with nap time. I then had a short tram ride to give me time to switch gears from often flustered and forgetful Mama to calm, collected and fully-prepared IT professional.
It was an interesting and productive meeting. A little bizarre to see a couple of people I never thought I’d work with again, but happily the business seems to be in pretty good shape these days. My previous experiences would be worthy of quite a few blog posts on topics along the lines of what to do when the landlord locks everyone out of the premises, what to do when staff wages are not being paid, and other things that aren’t good for your blood pressure! If you’d told me I’d be back working on the same (but totally rewritten) systems years later, I’d have thought you were smoking something very potent. This new, cut-down-to-the-bone company is a very different work prospect though.
The Rascal had great fun at Granny’s while my alter ego was getting back into the swing of working life… but of course refused to take a nap. He managed to turn her attempts to put him to sleep into an energetic game. Epic fail. He conked out as soon as I got him home, but was in cranky overdrive all evening, all night (when he wouldn’t sleep) and the following morning. Payback for Mama. I guess we’ll be scheduling face-to-face work meetings around his nap time in future. Cranky toddler aside, I’m quite excited about getting back to the day job, but also just a little petrified! It’s really important that I get stuck in, and get up and running as soon as possible. The longer it takes to ramp up, the more stressful it will become juggling toddler and work deadlines. In theory I’m sure it’s possible to successfully combine a full-time SAHM workload with 2 days worth of development work each week on the side. I’m not entirely confident about how it’s going to work out in practice yet though. Finding the time, and more importantly, the headspace to do it will be a challenge. I’ll feel a lot better once I start producing some concrete output for my efforts. We are off on our family vacation in less than 5 weeks time, so I envision the next few weeks as being extremely stressful. It’s time to do, or die. How many extra hours can I squeeze out of each day?
