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Reading Avi Spivack’s post on WorkItMom got me thinking about who is the real slacker, a working parent or a working non-parent?
I am 26 and worked in Corporate America for 5 years. If there is anything I learned, it is that a slacker is a slacker by nature not based on parenting status.
This post is intended for people in management. I want you to understand the difference between the way a parent and a non-parent works.
The parent has this amazing ability to get more done in less time. Because they know that they have somewhere else to be later.
For example, when I took night classes in college, I was single and childless. The students who were also parents always handed in their work on time or maybe even early. I was the one always asking for an extension because I had all the time to do what I want at any time of the day, so I slacked off more. I was not rushing to get things done.
Now in Corporate America the same concept applies. The employees who are parents work during actual work hours because they have to leave to go to another “job” at home.
The non-parents have all the time they need, to do what they have to do, at any time of the day. During work hours, they may chat, walk around, and then after work hours start working. They are not rushing anywhere. Therefore, they end up looking good because they stay late.
I suggest that management start paying more attention to people’s work habits. What are they doing in the morning, afternoon? Are they working or chatting?
I wrote an article about how my time and money management habits changed after having kids and that will really demonstrate further how we parents suddenly learn to do more in less time because we waste no time at all. We do not have time to slack off. We do not even know how to do that.
Next time you want to label a parent as a slacker because they leave work on time or some days they leave early to take their kids to the doctor, do not. Stop. Think and observe the parents’ working habits. Then compare it to non-parents and you will understand how efficient and productive we really are.
We offer what Corporate America really wants, increased productivity, less overhead; hello!?
I welcome your thoughts…
