First, an addendum to yesterday’s post
An astute BLP listener noted that I had promise Planner Peace pix in the show notes, but they were nowhere to be found!! I was in a huge rush yesterday and managed to forget this important piece of the episode. However – they have been added now HERE for your viewing pleasure in the first section of the post. She included a daily / weekly / monthly example – loved seeing these! Keep the submissions coming, and thank you Sarah K for sending those in to share!
Second, Hemlock & Oak preorders are out
You all know I love Hemlock & Oak — they are a Canadian company that makes sustainable and beautiful planners with a similar layout to Hobonichi but with thicker paper. I used a Hemlock & Oak weekly for several months this year and loved the way my gel pens wrote on the paper! My review is here with pix!
They just opened their 2023 preorders, so I just wanted to share! I do have an affiliate link here and a discount code BLP that will give you 10% off of your order. (Note, I will receive a small percentage if you use the affiliate link; of course prices remain the same on your end.)
Third, getting something big off my chest
I always try to be as honest and open as I can on this site, but sometimes there are things that can’t be shared, or things that can be shared but not right away.
Here it goes: I have decided to step down from my program director leadership role to work part time. My contract is signed, and the shift was announced at work ~2 weeks ago, including to our residents — so I feel safe sharing it here now. I will keep my clinical job essentially at its current level — I will be 60% (0.6 FTE), working 3 days per week seeing patients. I will still take call (at the same proportion).
I have been involved in GME since 2016, and program director for 3 years. The decision to leave is multifactorial and bittersweet, and I will genuinely miss many aspects of it. My team, the residents, and more.
BUT, I am also excited for what is to come! I am thrilled that I will have more flexibility, but I have big plans for some of that found time. I hope to have more time for the kids when they need me — and I have big feelings about time with them feeling both more enjoyable AND more finite lately — but I also want to use those two days primarily to grow in this creative space and take my writing/podcasting business to the next level. I want to be able to actually ACT on the ideas I have for growing here, and leverage some of the skills I have developed over years of crafting in this space.
I will write more about the decision process that led me to this point in a future post, but know it has been brewing for many months now.
SO – there you have it. Off my chest! It does feel good š Off to run . . .
62 Comments
I’m excited for you in this new stage! Don’t minimize that YOU did a huge lift getting the residency program off the ground (in addition to just running it!). And there’s probably at least one someone who has been telling themself, “As soon as Sarah steps down, I’m going to leap at that chance to be program director!” As an (extremely!) long time reader, I’m looking forward to seeing how you use your new schedule š
Congratulations Sarah! Being in medicine (and seeing a part of how much my residency program director was responsible for, aside from being a clinician) I know the time is really so limited. I’m glad you’re going to have flexibility to work on other things and be with your kids. Really look forward to reading about your decision-making process and the creative work you’ll have time for!
Congratulations on the big change! Itās exciting and inspiring to see you taking and making new opportunities for yourself in other directions.
Good for you Sarah. I’m really interested to see how this pans out for you. I’m a UK NHS senior ER doctor, with 3 young kids. I’m working at 85% currently, I’d love to drop to 65% and fantasise about this regularly but as the main breadwinner in our family it’d be a big drop in income. BUT I’m still thinking about time vs finance and what’s best for my kiddos in the long run. One of my 3 has learning difficulties and I know would benefit from more of my time invested in her. Or she might not, but me knowing in her adulthood that I gave her all I had might make me feel more comfortable with wherever she gets to. This is such hard stuff to decide as a parent! And yes, I completely appreciate the privilege we have as relatively high earning professionals, to be even able to think about working less than all the hours available. That said, I live far more frugally than most of my colleagues already…
I’m under lots of pressure / expectation (mostly from my own mind) to take on MORE – a medical school role, a leader ship role, etc etc, as what I currently do is about 60% clinical work (ER) and 25% management and administrative. So far I’m resisting. I’d love to have ‘space’ for non medical creative endeavours too. Well done on this brave decision. We only live once!
Congratulations Sarah on this new chapter, so glad you could finally share this exciting news with us. Love that youve been brave enough to make changes to your work situation as life has required it. Looking forward to hearing more of your plans as time goes on.
This sounds like a great decision for you. I look forward to hearing about whatās next.
This is so exciting, Sarah! I canāt wait to read more about your decision process. Congratulations!
I skipped this whole post and went right to the bottom. Sarah I am THRILLED for you and canāt wait to see what life has in store for you!!!
Lol, I did too. You canāt give a post a title like that and save the news for the end! šš
Congratulations! Having more flexibility is wonderful. I am excited to see what you do with it!
Congrats, Sarah! Iām so, so happy for you. š
Wow congratulations!
I absolutely love this and am SO inspired by you. Congratulations!!!
Congrats!
Iām also so excited to hear your news! As a fellow pediatrician, I have made a variety of career changes along the way, and Iām thankful for the new opportunities that seem to appear when we are flexible. I hope this transition is good for you and your family!
Iām so glad to hear youāve made a decision youāre at peace with! And Iām not gonna lie, Iām deeply jealous about the flexibility you (doctors) have in working a truly part time schedule. Itās not so easy to get approved for part time work in my job, plus the work just sits and accumulates rather than getting redistributed.
Yes, I have a similar issue here, @Alyce! Iāve been toying with a decision to go part time but I donāt know how things would be redistributed. Sarah, I would love to hear all the nitty gritty (that you can share) about what led to this decision, whether it impacts your nannyās hours, if there was a ābreaking point,ā etc. Congratulations!
Congratulations. Thatās amazing that you can have that flexibility. I quit teaching when I had my second kid and now Iām going to start subbing this year. My husband travels a ton for work and we donāt live near family. Iām so lucky to have that flexibility and not worry when a kid gets sick, or has an appointment, or if I need a day to get the house in order and stuff. My kids still love when I help at school or volunteer in their classroom.
Woooo! Thatās a really big news! Very excited for you and admire you pulling the gun. It must have been a really hard decision to make.
Good for you. The beauty of being a highly trained and ultra capable professional is that there will ALWAYS be opportunity to make adjustments in or out of the workforce, because people will always want to work with you! Looking forward to hearing how you like the adjustment.
I have been part time, scaling up and down, for 9 years since my daughter was born. I was back at 25 hours a week when Covid hit and I scaled back down to handle home schooling. I planned to scale back up butā¦got pregnant unexpectedly! (Birth control isnāt 100 percent effective! Ha) so Iām back to being home and working 8-10 hours/week during her naps, which honestly works well since I have one with multiple learning disabilities who needs a lot of support after school. I have some personal identity crises from time to time about how I could be further along in my career if I had made different choices, but I am overall really happy with the family life we are able to have right now, so here I am. I think part time work can be incredibly fulfilling if you like what you do and are building good things outside of the workplace too. I love following you and really look forward to seeing where you take everythingā¦ in all facets of your life! Thanks for sharing all that you do!
Oh wow, congratulations Sarah! This is an exciting new chapter for you and I canāt wait to hear more about how youāll be expanding your creative endeavors. You have put so much work into the GME program and can feel so good about all the improvements you made, leadership you developed, and students you mentored. I love that you are creating a schedule that works for you and your life right now.
Congrats! So excited for you to have more time for your family and your own creating work š
Congrats on this big change! You had mentioned changing coming and I wondered if you were going to drop the PD role. I have to imagine the # of meetings on your calendar has REALLY decreased now that you are out of that role. That would be a major positive for me! It is nice that you have the flexibility to craft a schedule that works for you and your family. And I can see how your kids are at the ages where more time with them will be net positive for everyone. I think that is not always the case when your kids are younger, like babies/toddlers. I adore my kids, but my energy is way more depleted when I spend a day with my toddler versus my most hectic day at work! But our oldest is 4 and I can see how things are only going to get easier/better.
I can’t wait to see how you make this schedule work for you and your family! It will never be a possibility for me in my role in financial services and I’m not sure if I’d want it since I don’t have a side hustle, but I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with your new schedule!
For a half a second I thought, āis she pregnant?!?ā, but this makes much more sense! š Bravo! Canāt wait to hear more both here and in BOBW- this would make a great episode (or series of episodes about shifting work/life obligations). Congratulations!
Congratulations, Sarah! Excited for you!
Longtime BLP listener & reader, first time commenter – I am so thrilled for you, Sarah!! And so excited to see whatās to come in this space. A shift
from full-time work hours is something Iāve been contemplating, too – lots happening over the past few years to make one realize how precious time really is (also realizing that our North American standard of traditional work vs personal time isnāt necessary the healthiest). Canāt wait to hear more about your plans & your journey!!
Good for you! 3 thoughts
-Have you listened to the no stupid questions with Angela Duckworth and Steven D talking about why sheās stepping down as CEO and why many people are less interested in leadership than in the past?
-60% is a great schedule! It prevents burnout AND allows you to feel the joy of work/your patients.
-Honestly if your kids get into anything (soccer, swim, art etc) it sucks up so much time. You wonāt regret your reduction in time!
Congratulations! I canāt wait to see what comes next. I think this is truly the best of both worlds.
I just received my Hemlock and Oak undated planner that I bought on your recommendation. I couldnāt wait until 2023 so I might switch for the fall. I also read āLessons in Chemistry ā based on your review and I loved it sooo much.
Congratulations, Sarah! I’m excited for you to have more time with the kids and for your other projects. I’ll be very interested to hear more about the decision making process (anything you want/are able to share). I’m also very much looking forward to enjoying what comes out of your new found extra creative time.
Congratulations! Can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings you and yours!
Just had to comment to send you a Congratulations! Three cheers to you, Sarah! I think this is Best of Both Worlds in real life, plus pivoting to devote more to passion work is going to be very cool to follow! Excited for your next chapter! Sorry you still have call, lol. And give us all the details when you can!
Wishing you all the best in this new chapter!
So exciting! I love reading your blog and listening to BOBW. Huge source of inspiration for me as a woman business owner and mom! Wishing you all the best and excited to see what’s next for you!
Congratulations! I think that’s the right thing to say. It’s amazing to know your boundaries and what’s right for you in a season of life. So glad you were able to do that and excited to see where your endeavors with writing and podcasting take you. You’re inspiring.
Congrats on taking the opportunity to do this (and for taking the PD role in the first place.)
Congratulations and very best wishes for the exciting new phase of your life.
Congratulations! You seem very happy and excited for this change, and after hearing you talk about how the blog/pod is really your passion/happy place I am so excited you were able to make this happen. I really appreciate all of your sharing – even before this news your openness and prior discussions about priorities helped me to age the confidence to turn down a leadership roll that I was offered but wasnāt excited about. I felt bad but once I turned it down I was so glad I did and Iāve been able to focus on the work stuff that Iām more excited about.
This news definitely deserves a comment – congrats! That sounds like a terrific schedule. I made a similar change recently and can’t even figure out how I ever fit in 40+ hours a week with 3 little kids. Will look forward to following along and being inspired by how you use your found time.
Yes!! I hope this change is everything you want it to be. š
Congratulations! I always wondered how you were able to fit everything into a very busy life, even though you are a planning ninja. As someone on the other side of child rearing who took a similar approach (a 70 per cent schedule as a law firm partner), I predict that you wonāt regret the decision. Your kids are at a great age now, and itās always good to be around more when they are teens (although the teen years can be as tiring as the toddler years sometimes). I kept my schedule āpart timeā until my kids were out of college. I was able to do college drop offs and pickups, do parents weekend, and get some additional time to help my aging parents, who lived 3 plus hours away. I put āpart-timeā in quotes because the part time of a busy professional can include āunofficial ā additional hours very often. Good for you for making the decision!
I’m very happy for you! it’s great that you have the ability for a flexible career and the courage to make the changes you want. I think this move really reflects how you lead your life through planning and reflection and it’s great and inspiring to see such a great change coming out of it. Enjoy the time with your family. I hope this change will make you flourish and I’m looking forward for your future projects.
Congratulations! I look forward to hearing more about your decision and your future plans!
Congratulations! I cannot wait to hear about the decision-making process. I always think it’s so inspiring to hear of people ruminating and then taking action.
We have just recently started a no meetings on Friday initiative and I’m way too excited to get things done š so I get the PD time constraints…………… š®
Congrats!! sounds like a great balance and can’t wait to hear more about it.
Fantastic!
You’ll love the freedom that comes with the reduced schedule. My first reduction in work was to drop to 0.6 FTE. The second, about two years later, was to 0 FTE.
May you work the number that works best for you and your family.
Cheers!
-PoF
Congrats, lady! Here’s to following your creative dreams!
So excited about your decision and all the possibilities!
As I was listening to you the other day I was once again amazed at how much of a natural you are on the mic. You have the most pleasant voice and conversational flow of most podcasters I follow (not a scientific metric but I talk/listen for a living and have developed the ultimate nitpick y ear as my emails about mics and sound might have conveyed!). There’s no question you have the ability to grow this space very successfully.
… And if you ever decide to go back to a managerial role in the medical field, I’m sure you could.
I’m keeping my eyes peeled! š
this comment means so much to me! thank you <3 <3 <3
Congratulations, Sarah! I’m sure that wasn’t an easy decision to make but it sounds like a wonderful one! š
Congratulations, Sarah! Wishing you all the best in the adventures ahead!
So happy for you, Sarah! I hope itās everything you want it to be.
Congrats! I have been on various flex time arrangements for the past 10 years (at 50% currently). I tell people often it is the best of both worlds AND the worst of both worldsā¦but coverall, had been a huge blessing to me and our entire family. It is nice to have a little extra bandwidth to just BE, and to have flexibility to do all the things I want to do with my kids. Hope that you find this a fulfilling and positive change!
Congrats! This is all very exciting!! I can’t wait to see what’s in store creatively for you!!!
Congratulations! As a fellow healthcare professional, I’ve been re-shaping my career over the last year, adjusting hours worked and spending time on other projects. The flexibility with small children and ability to step outside of patient care for part of the week has been amazing. I can’t wait to see what you’ll be working on! Have been a reader and listener of BOBW for quite some time!
Exciting! Congratulations!
So, so happy for you!! From your posts over the past year or so, this feels like it was a long time coming. I really hope that 60% is a breath of fresh air for you. You deserve nothing less!
So happy for you Sarah – very excited to follow along and see how this change works for your life/family. Thanks for sharing with us!
<3
So exciting, congratulations!! Fellow pediatrician here in my early career starting out part-time after hearing from many wise women before me who told me how much easier it is to add on time than to take away time (at work)–I’m so glad you were able to do it! Can’t wait to see what comes from it, hopefully a lot of peace and joy and time for yourself and your family!
I got a little emotional listening to the podcast yesterday! I’ve recently reduced my hours at work and got a lot of pushback from my gogetter friends and colleagues. It’s inspiring to see you take this step to focus on priorities outside your “traditional” paid work. Thank you!
Wow! This is so exciting – and such an important example for your residents to see. There is SO MUCH MORE to life than academic medicine. Being in private practice, whenever I interview a chief resident for a potential job, I can feel their sense of ‘settling’ for something that is not academic. And now, you showing them that there’s even more to life than just medicine – I can’t wait to see what comes out of your creative time. I’m sure it will continue to be such an inspiration!
Congrats!