The Latest Thing in Work-Life Balance: 'Microshifting'

Before the house is humming and her teenagers ask her to whip up breakfast or chauffeur them to school, Jen Meegan reads her company emails and revisits ideas she drafted the night before. She works for an hour or so, then after the school run shops for groceries or gets gas before returning to focus deeply on her job as head writer and co-founder of Sheer Havoc, a creative services agency. And so goes the rhythm of Meegan's day: working in targeted chunks for a few hours, breaking for an hour or two to tend to family and personal needs, and repeating the pattern until she finishes her work late at night. Meegan is among wage earners engaging in "microshifting," a flexible scheduling approach that involves tackling job duties in short, productive bursts instead of a single nine-to-five stretch, per the AP.

• Growing trend: The practice is increasing in popularity among workers and gaining acceptance in some organizations as a way to improve work-life balance. While some independent contractors say they've been microshifting for years, the term is catching on among people holding down jobs that traditionally require set, contiguous hours. Some companies offer such flexibility or acknowledge they have employees working this way, even if the method isn't explicitly condoned.
• Benefits: Proponents argue that working in increments boosts productivity by giving the brain breaks. Taking walks or attending a child's school function can be reinvigorating for people who get drained from sitting at a desk or looking at a computer screen, supporters say. "From a creativity standpoint, it's good to take breaks," says George Mason University management professor Kevin Rockmann says. "When you stop thinking about a task is when your best ideas come to you."
• Relationship impact: While microshifting is often good for personal relationships, allowing you more time with loved ones, it can damage professional ones, Rockmann warns. Effective teams are committed to working together collaboratively, but "the whole idea of microshifting is taking care of yourself," he says. "It's not that taking care of yourself is bad." It just "places the emphasis on the individual, not the relationships."
• Making the ask: When requesting flexibility to set your own hours, tell your employer how they're going to benefit, suggests Shellie Garrett of Oklahoma Community Cares Partners. "You have to go into the interview and sell it," she says. "You have go in and say, 'I'm willing to do whatever schedule and put my best foot forward, but if you want me to be most productive or most creative, this is how I work best, if this is something you're willing to work with.'" More here.