This week is my very last week of working under a full time contract. The idea of reducing my work hours from full time to part time has been in the back of my mind for some time. As you may already know – I’ve felt that I’ve not had enough time to work towards my true goals in the past. So I’ve finally decided to take a step forward and take action. Along the way I’ve encountered a few inner fears and concerns, but ultimately I can only see this step as a beneficial one.

When you feel like time is passing by very quickly, yet you don’t have the time to act upon any of your goals, the result is a frustration. You feel ‘stuck’. I started off this blog by making a commitment to myself – I’m going to act more, be more creative and work towards the things that are more important to me. Even having the time to THINK about what things are important to me, and to continually be able to reassess my goals – can only be beneficial.

So I’ve renegotiated my employment contract to cut back to part time hours.  Although I’m only reducing 4.5 hours per week, the most important step for me is to be able to claim one day per week to myself.

Monday is My Day

When you have an entire day set aside, it’s far easier to get things done.  I’m usually far more productive in the morning, so I’m looking forward to fast tracking my goals!  Having Monday free will give me the opportunity to not only work towards my goal outlined on this blog, but I’ll also get to rediscover some creative pursuits. It is great feeling to be creative for the pure satisfaction of expressing creativity!

My Concerns:

Okay, so yes I have to admit I have been a bit fearful of the consequences of this decision. There are a few factors that have to be considered.

Career – If I work part time, how does this reflect on my commitment to my overall career? Does it mean that I appear as less committed? Although I do enjoy my job, I can’t imagine it being a long term career choice. I’ve come to the realisation that I need extra time to learn more skills as I’ve felt my ability to learn more in my current position is limited. The ability to further my skills is more important to me.

Money – Cutting back my wage means I have to be more budget conscious. I might need to hide my credit card and pay more emphasis on tracking my spending. Anyone got some tips on budgeting?

I’ve been waiting (and waiting) for an Australian equivalent of mint.com to be developed. Mint.com automatically links all your accounts together and makes budgeting a breeze.  I didn’t think there was an alternative until I recently did a Google search and found ANZ MoneyManager. I have just signed up and although I’ve been able to add all my credit cards and my stock trading account, my main banking account doesn’t appear to be supported – doh! Otherwise I would be able to check out my net worth – live – at any point in time, scary!

Although in the short term I will have to be a little budget conscious, I believe the sacrifice will be worth it. That’s an extra 52 days per year that I get to devote to bettering my knowledge and working towards my goals.

Your comments are welcome

Resources

• Mint.com (Automatic Budgeting Analysis in USA)
• ANZ MoneyManager (Automatic Budgeting Analysis in Australia)