Why do you want to work flexibly? There are a variety of reasons to want to work flexibly, some more obvious than others. Have a look at the following list of reasons given to me by the people I have worked with to date……

• Caring for children and elderly relatives
• Playing in an Orchestra or band
• Stress
• Professional development
• Hobbies
• Religion/Spiritual development
• Sports   
• Cost of housing or other housing problems
• Travel
• Transport difficulties
• Not wishing to commute
• Environmental concerns
• Congestion charging
• Parking problems
• Illness, long-term or short-term
• Just because……

Or a whole combination of reasons. The reason itself doesn’t have to be a reason that other people can relate to; it can just be because you don’t actually enjoy working full-time. Fair enough, if you ask me.

The main thing is that you should have a clear idea in your own head as to why you want to work flexibly. Once you identify for yourself what your reasons are, you can begin to identify ways of making it happen. A strong focus will bring a strong motivation to change your current working pattern. Consider the benefits too:

A better work-life balance can bring

• greater control over how your working life inter-relates with your home life
• more time to spend doing the things in life that you want to do
• improved self-esteem, health, concentration and confidence 
• loyalty and commitment
• a reduction in bringing home problems to work - and vice versa
• time to strike a better balance with life outside work
• greater responsibility and a sense of ownership
• better relations between management and shop floor

There are so many advantages. How do you go about making it happen? The first thing to do is to find out what your legal rights are, find out your firm or organisation’s flexible working policy and have a look at your contract. All these together should give you a good starting point as to what your options might be.

Another post deals with the surrounding employment legislation.

Go ahead and start to think about all the reasons why……..and start to make it happen!

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