Being Inefficient is Good, Sometimes

There are 168 hours in a week. I spend around 70 hours attending to my work and part-time projects. The remaining 98 hours is spent on family, personal relationships and other miscellaneous items. Looking at these numbers, I don’t know why I kept telling myself I don’t have enough time to do all the things that I am supposed to do. Could it be that I’m being inefficient in other things? Or could it be that I am being too efficient in a lot of things?

I came across an article in the New York Times that talks about the 168 hours and the issue of being too efficient. Like other working moms out there, I highly value my time to the point of having a rigid schedule day in day out. Here is my usual schedule on a weekday: I must be home by 10 a.m. Chat with my love till lunch time. Grab a quick lunch. Shower. Then I hit the keyboard to do my writing. By 3 p.m., It’s time for me to wrap things up because my son will be home from school. We talk about how his day went and so forth. Another hour passes, my other son comes home. We talk about school stuff and so on. I try to squeeze in cooking time for dinner so that I wouldn’t have to wake up at 7p.m. which is like 3 a.m. in my body clock. I get some shut-eyes for at least 4-5 hours then start my day at 10p.m. (GMT +8). The same routine the following day. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It seems like a boring schedule. Well, it is, sometimes. But I do try to introduce unscheduled events in my routine for some fun and relaxation. It can be in the form of short trips, movies, watch the kids play computer games or just hang around in my room doing nothing even if there’s a pile of freshly laundered clothes waiting for me to fold. At work, there are days when I choose to take the bus over riding the cab. The ride home is longer, much to the chagrin of my boyfriend.

Some of these “inefficiencies” eat up my time alright but it also allows me to take a brief pause and reflect.

They say that working moms hardly have enough time for family. If I do the math, I believe I just have enough time to do all those other items on the periphery without sacrificing my entire career. I’ve raised the kids to the best of my ability without having to quit my job midway even during the tough times when we move around a lot.

So, I think a little bit of inefficiency is okay to some extent.

The Lady Liberty

I got Friday off because of the holiday. It was a chance for me to make up for the sleep debt that I have been accumulating the past weeks. It was also a chance for me to reminisce the days when I got to meet "The Lady".

Here are some pictures to commemorate that special day:

Confirming our e-tickets at Liberty Park.

Security check before we were allowed to queue up for the ferry.

"Miss New Jersey" will take us to Ellis Island then to Liberty.

Stayed at the upper deck for a better view.

There's Lady Liberty!

First stop, Ellis Island. From 1892-1954, this is the main entry facility for all immigrants entering the United States.

Finally!

The Torch. Closed since 1916.

The lobby of the exhibit area inside the statue. On our way up!

The Lady.

Imagine this guy as the Statue of Liberty? This is one of the many designs considered! Good thing this did not make it.

Happy 4th of July!

The crown is open to the public starting today. Too bad i missed it.

Reduced Hours, Paycut - What's Next?

"He reduced my hours and pay. Did anything change with you?"

I was having a pay-cut conversation with my Arizona-based coworker. Her hours were cut from 40 to 35 a week. Mine stayed the same but I have to let go of the bonus part this year and no pay increase as well. I guess we all have to make little sacrifices.

She was considering a second job on the weekends but opted not to take it because of her young children. Changing jobs is out of the question, at least for now, she said. Getting a high paying job will require her to commute. That means more time away from her kids. Plus the expenses associated with commuting e.g. gas, work clothes, etc., will just increase her family’s monthly spending.

California is bankrupt and most businesses if not all, are taking the hit. Even though insurance is one product that Americans cannot give up easily because of the consequences of not being insured and non-compliance with state requirements, people are still finding ways to reduce insurance costs. They shop for cheaper rates, go direct with carriers, reduce coverage and increase deductibles to save on premiums.

There are companies who are worse off and have resorted to layoffs and furloughs. People are taking second jobs. That is if there are second jobs jobs available.

The New York Times reported that unemployment was up in June, shedding off 467,000 jobs, the highest in 26 years. I don’t know when things will start improving. I cannot even assure myself of the job I have held for over two years even though my boss tells me that my job is safe. When the boss needs to make tough calls, then that’s it for me.

Anyway, I can’t just sit around and wait for things to unfold before my eyes. I try to save much, spend less on the non-essentials and work on additional projects that fit my schedule.

Dealing with Motherhood Penalty

Consider two women applying for a job: they have similar skills, experiences and education. One is mother and the other is not. According to research conducted by sociologists at the Cornell University, if two women with similar skills and experiences apply for a job, the mother has lesser chances of getting the job. Why? Motherhood penalty. Simply put, working moms are disadvantaged because they are mothers.

The laboratory experiment found that mothers were penalized on a host of measures, including perceived competence and recommended starting salary. Men were not penalized for, and sometimes benefited from, being a parent. The audit study showed that actual employers discriminate against mothers, but not against fathers.

Does having more responsibilities – being a mom, wife, and employee – make a woman less competent in the workplace? How about the moms already employed? How does a mother stack up against her non-mother coworkers?

What really annoyed me in the findings of this experiment is the sweeping generalization that is the norm (allegedly) among hiring managers in the workplace. A working mom is perceived as less competent because of too many responsibilities on hand. But based on whose standards is this? Which industry? What is the background of the hiring managers? Is this an age-limiting, country-specific issue, as well? Certainly, there will be a host of other issues that will stem from motherhood penalty. Women should be on the lookout for hiring managers who employ such unprofessional HR practices.