Part-Time: hey, it's still work!

I know a lot of people who don't work 40-plus hours per week in a single place. Some work for pay part-time, by choice - maybe they're semi-retired, are homeschooling their kids or are extremely dedicated to a volunteer commitment. Others are piecing together several PT jobs because they need the money and are trying to make the best of it. Still others, including me, hold a PT job while running a side business. Many of those side businesses are in what's often called creative fields - graphic design, handcrafted items such as ceramics, copy writing or performing, for example.

A part-time patchwork life can work but it takes planning. Here are some issues I've had to work out, and tactics that have worked for me:

• If you work a PT job and have a sideline venture at home, be very clear with yourself that your at-home work is work, and treat it accordingly. I know writers who have thriving side businesses and writers who keep spinning their wheels. One enormous difference between the two is that the thriving writers regard their writing as a career, not a pastime they indulge in when they don't have to be at the office. If you take your venture seriously, you'll give it the time and attention it deserves, and potential clients or buyers will be more likely to respect you.
• Take time to plan your week. This is especially important if your job doesn't involve a set schedule or if your hours are flexible. If your job doesn't have predictable hours, you can still plan "office hours" for your side business; you'll just have to find a way to keep potential customers informed. Having a Facebook page for your business is probably the most flexible way to do this, since you can post your "available" times weekly.
• When you've scheduled yourself to work at whatever you're doing, work. The fact that you can edit copy at 3 a.m. and spend the evening (which was supposed to be spent editing) babysitting your niece doesn't mean you should - unless you want to, of course. If people know that you do some of your work at home, you might start hearing things like, "But you can always paint - after all, you work at home. An hour her and there won't throw you off." Practice saying "I'd like to help but I have to work."
  
• Accept that some people in your life, maybe including some FT co-workers, will refuse to take your contribution to your workplace seriously or will treat your side work like a trivial indulgence. Nearly a decade ago I worked PT at a local elementary school and ran a business on the side. Predictably every Friday afternoon, one of my FT co-workers would make an edgy remark about how lucky I was that my weekend lasted till Wednesday. Pointing out that I'd spend most of the supposed weekend making sales didn't have any effect. After I'd been at the school for several months I realized that this woman didn't like her job, regarded work itself as a curse and seemed to be chronically angry at anyone who wasn't in an office 40 hours a week.
  Just smile and change the subject.

Hopefully it'll work for you!