In January I negotiated to reduce my hours to 27.5 a week as part of a promotion; this lets me drop my two children off at kindergarten and pick them up again a

In January I negotiated to reduce my hours to 27.5 a week as part of a promotion; this lets me drop my two children off at kindergarten and pick them up again at 3pm after work and let my wife take a full-time job. Looking after young children for more than just a fun hour in the evening before bed is hard work - certainly much more demanding than working full time ever was. Working part time is challenging too - nobody is sharing the role, and I find the hours I am working are much more focused now I know I have a hard stop every day. When working 40+ hours a week there was always time for another cup of tea, a short walk or browse on the net. Now, during working hours, I am working. Last month my wife negotiated a reduction of her hours to 25 per week. This makes us both a lot more flexible and brings in time for things like having breakfast together once a week, working on side project or going on week-long work trips without running into childcare difficulties. My advice: if you want to try this, you have to negotiate for it. If you don't try, nobody will offer it to you. Great programmers have an incredible amount of negotiating leverage, particularly at the moment. Use it or something you care about.