How my work life changed after my daughter was born

[#1]

I've been thinking to write down some information about working during my parental leave to encourage another women to don't be afraid to get back to work.

My daughter was born two years ago. I remember I accomplished my last migration a few weeks before - our customer was in hurry and me too, so both sides were happy to finish in time. They knew about my situation and we worked very efficiently together.

In the beginning of my parental leave it was difficult, my daughter didn't sleep much and I wasn't able to do anything more than take care of her. After some time it got better and I missed my work and Atlassian world badly. I was still in touch with my colleagues as some of them are my friends and from time to time they called me and ask me about my opinion on something. This way I started to consult the solutions for our customers during the long walks with a stroller.

Also, I was still reading community news and articles and as an online leader I tried to help the others by up-voting and answering the questions. It was not much, but it helped me to feel mentally health.

After some time I started to work during the evenings, when my daughter was sleeping. My colleagues were able to find work for me - mostly I was delivering some smaller issues for customers, where there were no due dates and I still had the possibility to postpone the task, if I had a hard day. Later we found out it helps our team a lot - they can focus on bigger tasks. As time went on I started to support more customers and I was able to take care of bigger and bigger tasks.

Right now I'm still working mostly during the evenings and I'm with my daughter during the days.

My colleagues are very supportive and help me a lot, if something is needed during the day. In exchange, if some problem occurs during the later afternoon, I'm usually able to fix it during the evening and everything is done, when they start to work next day. We also have customers, who are happy with my work schedule as they are living in the different time-zones.

In the beginning I was very afraid to speak about my situation with the customers, but I'm very surprised, how well received this information is. Usually they tell me they have children too and don't mind to do the call later in the day or they do something to help me work better for them.

I'm very grateful, that I can still continue to do, what I love, thanks to do the people, who surround me.

[Rafael Garcia Tamarit]

Hi Hana,

It's great to see an article like this one, talking about personal situations and how to deal with our daily work. It's so good to see how many companies and people are changing their minds from traditional ways of working, with us (employees) being tied to a chair in an office and to a fixed schedule. It is becoming more and more usual to work remotely and with flexible schedules so as to get a better work-life balance and take care at the same time of our work and our personal duties and responsibilities.
Thanks to all companies and people who are supportive and understanding of this new realities that we have to live upon. Best wishes for the future.

[John Funk]

Thank you for sharing, @Hana Kučerová ! I remember you also helping to review the advanced copy of my book at that time. My how time flies!

[Andy Gladstone]

@Hana Kučerová you've been an inspiration to so many of us in the Community with your valuable contributions, and this is yet another one. I love that your parental leave helped you reconfigure your work life in a way that benefits you, your colleagues, your customers, and most importantly, your family. It's a good lesson to remember - not every organization needs 9-5 to thrive. Providing time flexibility can be even more beneficial than overloading the work into a single block of time.

[Susan Waldrip]

I agree with @Rafael Garcia Tamarit and @Andy Gladstone , there's really no reason for companies to stay with the "old ways" of working when they can get the best from great employees just by being more flexible. It's not any harder to manage a team this way, either, but it does (as you said) require good communication. Kudos to you for being brave and vulnerable enough to persist in returning to work in a way that's authentic to you, and kudos to your company for understanding flexibility is a win-win and adjusting to the "new ways" of working! I really appreciate you sharing this, it's inspiring.

[Vronik]

Thank you for sharing your experience, I can only say that you are very lucky, you have colleagues who are worth gold, understanding, empathizing and helping you with the situation shows great human quality, and it also shows that you are a great professional valued and loved by your colleagues. 

Congratulations for everything you have achieved

[Daria Kulikova]

Hello @Hana Kučerová , it's nice to see your story... I remember pretty well when my daughter was born and I was on parental leave. For me it was difficult not to work, as well. So, I decided to get back to work a bit earlier - when my daughter was 2 month-old. And like you, I was working in the evening time. 

That's great that you're surrounded by such great people and can do what you like! All the best! :)

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @Rafael Garcia Tamarit , thank you!

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @John Funk , yes, you are right, I remember I was pregnant back then. Sadly I wasn't able to publish my review, because Amazon allowed this only for their customers.

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @Andy Gladstone , you are very kind, thank you very much!

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @Susan Waldrip , thank you! I hope it will help somebody.

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @Vronik , thank you, yes I totally agree, I'm very lucky.

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi @Daria Kulikova , thank you. I'm always happy to hear from somebody, who loves their job. Best wishes in the future!

[Rebecca Dixon]

Thank you for sharing your story Hana. I ran a workshop recently with a few of our recent returned to work parents (yes, we included dads as well) to talk about our different experiences (My kids are older (11 & 8 but my return to work is still fresh in my mind!) and how we can ensure all our parents feel supported while they're on parental leave and how we support them on their return. One of the most important parts for me was making sure the parent has an individualised return to work plan, so we make sure we give them what they need and they can tell us what that looks like. I love that you and your team found a way that worked for you and the team (and of course benefitted the customers!). 

[Hana Kučerová]

That's great @Rebecca Dixon , I'm happy to hear that!