“It must be nice to work part-time.” 

WHAT?!?!?!?

I really hope I was not wearing my reaction on my face when a colleague said that to me at work one day. At that point in time, I had just left a large practice where I was a partner and was starting to grow my new PT clinic, all while continuing to treat patients at least 4 days a week. I was flabbergasted by his comment and it took everything in my power to not snap back at him. What did he consider part-time about what I was doing? 

In fact, I had worked a full day before I even showed up at the office, took care of everything I needed to with patients and went home to work another full day’s worth of mom duties before crashing at my desk at 11pm. Emails in the morning, making sure my kids had what they needed for the day, and then back home to carpool to/from activities, cook dinner and all the other household stuff. Not to mention, the weekends I never had “off” because I spent many of them teaching and doing admin work. If all of that was part time, I was worried to know what full time involved? 

Before I started Catalyst, I was working nearly 60 hours a week to manage patients, office duties, business development and more. I was burned out. I was not a fun person. People didn’t always like me. I didn’t like myself. When I started over, I swore I would do it my way. I would earn the income I desired but not give up the joy in my career. I would be able to be a clinician, a business owner and a present mom. It maybe didn’t look like the typical 9 to 5 or the traditional  “come in early and stay late every day to accommodate patients” that was so common in the physical therapy world, but it worked for me and turned out to be pretty successful. Some may call it boundaries. I call it creating a career around my life.

Unfortunately, this is a common misconception in our society. The notion of the 9 to 5, or the traditional work day and work week, is the “only” way to really be committed to your job. And if you own a business, well, that means you must be putting in several additional hours to accommodate working in AND on your business. It leaves me wondering why we have all just accepted this as the norm, and why people are looked down upon for attempting to do it any other way. 

And let me just state, there is NOTHING wrong with working part time. It’s a viable option for many and it works for them. Additionally, moms who work part time, in my opinion, have the hardest time trying to juggle it all. It’s certainly not “nice” or easy. However, what I’m trying to say is that it is possible to build a business around a life you love. Hours spent in the office should not be a badge of honor. Working more is not necessarily better. Moreover, your self worth, level of success, or commitment to your career is not commensurate with the physical hours you log in the workplace.