Shorter Hours and Remote Work: Making Work and Childcare Fit Together

Hello, everyone.
I am Sogame, a marketing consultant at NowVillage.

I had my first child, a boy, in May 2022, returned to work in May 2023, and now work shorter hours.
Many women are taking on the challenge of balancing childcare and work, or are about to reach that stage of life.
Here I write from my own experience about how I work at NowVillage while raising a child, and how my working life changed before and after maternity and parental leave.

I hope it is of some use to anyone planning to combine childcare with work, or interested in working at NowVillage.

1. Life after returning: shorter hours and remote work

Before my leave I worked full time, 9 to 18, four days in the office and one day remote. (During the morning sickness after I found out I was pregnant, I was allowed to work fully remotely.)

▽Read about working while pregnant here：
Six months of fully remote work got me through my pregnancy…! NowVillage is kind to expectant mothers

Since returning I have used the shorter-hours scheme, 9 to 16, with my son at nursery.
Right after I came back, the company took account of my worries about combining childcare and work for the first time, the long distance between home and the office, and the need for time to settle in, so I came in once a fortnight and worked remotely the rest of the time.

I gradually got back into the rhythm of work, and now I still work 9 to 16 under the shorter-hours scheme, coming in once or twice a week and working remotely the rest of the time.

My work is the same as before my leave, as a marketing consultant, and since April I have also been working on NowVillage’s own marketing alongside that.

▽Read about the marketing consultant role here：
Digital marketing consultant job description　View

2. A typical day

Below is one day’s schedule, on a remote day.

• 6:00
  Get up, make breakfast, get myself ready
• 7:00
  Son wakes, get him ready for nursery
• 8:00-8:30
  Drop-off at nursery
• 8:30-8:50
  Housework, tidying up the toys he played with that morning
  (or work, when things are busy)
• 9:00-9:45
  Start remote work at home, join the morning meeting
• 9:45-10:00
  Check and answer chat messages　
• 10:00-11:00
  Work (analysis and reporting for advertising management and social management)
• 11:00-12:00
  External meeting (joining remotely)
• 12:00-12:45
  Lunch break (something quick made at home)
• 12:45-13:00
  Prepare for the next meeting
• 13:00-14:00
  External meeting (joining remotely)
• 14:00-15:00
  Work (social content ideas for clients and banner layouts for ads)
• 15:00-16:00
  Work (checking SEO articles commissioned from writers)
• 16:30
  Finish work
• 17:00
  Nursery pick-up

This is a remote day; on office days I drop my son at nursery at 7:00 and then travel in. Office mornings are especially hectic, so remote work is a great help.

3. How the company accommodates it

As I said, I come into the office once or twice a week and work from home the rest of the time, and I feel that everyone, from the president down, has been very warm about it.

Some projects do have tight deadlines, and on those days I end up working late even on shorter hours and remotely.

Working remotely lets me put commuting time into the work itself and keep going right up to the nursery pick-up, which I cannot do on office days, so it is a great help.

4. When something urgent happens with my child

Since my son started nursery he has been unwell more often, with the colds and infections he picks up there. He has run a temperature from the stress of a new environment, and he often catches whatever is going round.
So I often get a call from the nursery during the working day asking me to come and collect him.
(While I was writing this article the nursery rang again. He had hurt himself, they were taking him to the clinic, and only a parent could collect him from there, so could I come? I took two hours of leave and went to the clinic.)

Whenever the nursery rings I honestly get a little jolt every time: is this a pick-up call? Do I need to leave early? Ha.
It is my child’s health, though, so of course it comes before anything else.

Here is how I handle it.

①First, go back over my schedule
②If only my own schedule needs moving, take hourly leave and deal with it
(move the work to the next day or later, or handle it that evening if it is urgent)
③If it involves an external meeting, talk to my manager and rearrange who attends
(if it is fine for me not to attend, take hourly leave and deal with it)
④If something cannot be moved, contact my husband to see whether he can adjust
⑤If he can do the pick-up, ask him; if not, apologise to the client and ask to reschedule

That is roughly how it goes.

I feel bad about taking time off at short notice, but everyone, starting with the president, takes the view that my child comes first, and I am very grateful for that.

5. Combining work and childcare

Both my husband’s family and mine live far away, so there is no one nearby we can ask for help with childcare.
So the two of us work together, improvising, and battle through it day by day.
If I am going to work, I want to build my skills and my career and widen what I am capable of, and I also want to keep proper family time with my husband and son.
In my first weeks back I wanted both work and childcare to run to plan, could not manage it, and did at times blame myself and lose motivation.
But I could raise how I work and what I work on in the weekly one-to-one with my manager and in everyday conversation, and now I manage both.

Letting people help you matters too. Carry everything alone and you break, and then you cause trouble for clients and colleagues. For anything you cannot solve on your own, raise it early; cutting out wasted deliberation and finding ways to work faster matters as well.

6. If you are thinking of joining NowVillage

I have written about life since returning to work and how I combine work and childcare day to day.

Everyone at NowVillage is positive about their work and keen to improve. People push each other to sharpen their skills as marketers every day, so it suits anyone starting to build a career in marketing and anyone wanting to go further.

Of our 17 staff, 7 are women, so that share has grown as well.
Besides me, one woman is on parental leave at the moment, and more colleagues are coming back to work as working mothers. A male colleague was on parental leave until very recently too.
We can share worries and help each other as people doing the same balancing act, so it is a reassuring place to work for anyone facing a change of life stage.
If NowVillage interests you, do apply.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
Thank you for reading to the end.

NowVillage is looking for new colleagues.
If our mission of making the world happier through marketing resonates with you, or if you want to grow your skills in digital marketing, do apply.

We look forward to hearing from you.