Episode 04: Alina
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In this episode, I interview Alina, HR superstar and mother of 2 boys. Features job sharing and the carseat urinal!
The Lowdown
– Family of 4
– 2 Working Parents
– 1 part-time (4 days a week)
– 1 full-time
– 3 year old
– 1 year old
3:06 Sleep
3:36 Sleep ins are non-existent
5:02 Who are the people in your family? Who does what when?
5:46 Doing 5 days worth of work in 4 days
6:16 Productivity of the 4-day working week
7:30 Intense working days then a day off
7:48 Parenting super powers
8:38 Providing the feminine aspects to a family
9:08 The organiser
9:50 The fun one
10:28 Impromptu dance parties
11:06 Not enough energy to be the fun one
11:40 How is childcare managed?
12:42 Splitting the drop offs and pick ups to make the day shorter
13:12 Could you choose your own path?
14:16 More time with family child care?
14:34 What works well?
14:46 Going from 1 child to 2
15:20 Guidance from friends
15:24 Household roster
16:12 Eating dinner together as a family
16:28 Chest freezer and bulk cooking
16:44 Downsides?
16:55 Tired kids
17:14 Tired pre-schoolers vs tired school kids
17:37 Illness in the first winter at childcare
18:42 Who takes the day off when kids are sick?
19:55 A sick day takes up more of a part-time week
21:10 Working from home with sick kids
22:04 The babysitters (grandparents) catching the bug
23:40 What other arrangements have you had in the past?
24:02 Job sharing
24:56 How did the job sharing come about?
25:12 Proposed plan for maternity and beyond
26:22 Next steps?
26:38 Work travel
28:32 Do you feel well supported?
29:14 Society hasn’t caught up with males and family responsibilities
29:26 Different approaches to work
30:34 Did you consider doing things differently due to your different approaches to work?
31:04 Family is willing but is the workplace?
31:32 Husbands experiencing the family penalty
32:20 Australia is very far behind
32:44 Being on the other side – flexible work arrangements of the staff you work with?
33:04 All bar one are female
33:38 Different types of work more suited to flexible work?
33:58 Not necessarily!
34:00 Job sharing and decision making
34:02 Job sharing working well when there is lower level decision making
35:02 Workers with flexible working arrangements will generally be more productive, give more back and will be more loyal
35:28 Flexible work arrangements as a non-financial incentive
35:40 Interviewer grovels to interviewee to be her boss
36:12 Working from home not a great option in some cases
36:36 Working from home with children at home
38:34 Funny or disastrous moments
38:38 Yes everyday
39:44 Carseat urinal
40:13 No packed lunch!
40:50 Online canteen lunch orders – the best!
41:22 Is your version of family what you thought it would be?
42:04 Advice?
42:14 Lower your standards!
42:40 So important that home time is not cleaning time
42:52 Get a deep freeze
43:39 Date night
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