{Tranquil Tuesday} Working Less

I just finished reading this awesome article from the NY Times, called "But Will It Make You Happy?" Here's a short exerpt...

"One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff. "

The basic gist of the article is that the recent economic recession has forced many people to rethink their spending habits. People are cutting back, getting rid of cable, staying home with their families, working less (oftentimes out of necessity.) Interestingly, research shows that a lot of these changes will make people happier. Rather than a focus on accumulating things, people are happier when they have more time, leisure, experiences.

Thus, we have Tranquil Tuesday when I plan to share some little thing I've done to make life just a little simpler. This one isn't done yet, but it's a work in progress that I'm so excited about. I'm planning to "buy" some more time with my son.

I have started discussions with my boss to give me more time with James, either by working from home once per week or even working few hours each week. I assume there may be a pay cut involved in this decision, but I'm okay with that. I'm not quitting or even going part-time, just getting a little more time to spend with my boy.

I'm nervous about how it will all turn out. My boss is older and not super-flexible, so the idea of working from home is totally foreign to him. At the same time, I think Brett's concerned about our household budget taking too much of a hit.