Reflecting on my work history leading up to the daily routine of remote work

I'm not sure who this will be helpful for,
but since I've experienced quite a variety of ways of working,
I'd like to look back on the "daily time schedules" from each era of my working life.

Single era

[20s] Full-time employee / Markup engineer

After graduating from college, I went from a part-time job to a full-time position and worked there for five and a half years.

To put it bluntly, I was working too much...
For the first three years, I lived with my parents. The one-and-a-half-hour commute was long, and even if I could leave on time, it was late, so for the last two years, I rented a place near the office and lived alone. Although my commute time was reduced, it resulted in even longer working hours, and I lived in a constant state of overwork and sleep deprivation.

Era with children

[Early 30s] Temporary employee / Web creator

From the time my eldest son was 0 to 2 years old, he wasn't enrolled anywhere, so I did remote work as a freelancer, or when I needed to go to the office, I would drop him off at my parents' house before heading to work, so working short hours three days a week was my limit.

If my parents lived closer, it would have been an option to have them come over, but since the style was for me to take him to them, it was definitely a problem of spending too much time traveling.
Seven hours of commuting for only five hours of actual work (including a 1-hour lunch break).
The low pay for the amount of work...

Thinking about time performance, I tried many times to work from home without traveling, but working while taking care of a toddler alone was, after all, an impossible game.

[Late 30s] Contract employee / In-house designer

When my eldest son turned 3 and started kindergarten, I quit my remote work, aimed to become a regular employee again, and decided to work full-time five days a week while utilizing extended childcare.

It started to look like a typical "working mom" schedule.
Well, it didn't always go like this.
And even if it had gone like this, it was physically tough...

[40s] Full-time employee / Director

Shortly after I changed to my current company, I became pregnant with my second son, and while I was on maternity leave, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and by the time I returned from childcare leave, it had switched to remote work.

Since there is no commute, I can go shopping or go for a run right before work, and
it is easier to have 'family time' and 'personal time' after work ends.

In particular, the items I marked with a ★ never appeared in how I worked in my 20s and 30s, so I really feel that we are now in an era where we think about work-life balance.

Of course, there are days when I have to work overtime, but since I can clock out for a 'break' and then resume work after taking a bath, I have a lot of flexibility.

That said, when working full-time from 10 AM to 7 PM, there is the issue of how to pick up the kids.
I think some families manage well by splitting duties with their husbands, and in my case, it might only be possible because of 'cheats' like living with my parents.

Finally

This might not have been very helpful, but
for me, it was a quite meaningful article as I was able to look back and realize that I have explored various forms of being a working mom and that those days were tough.

#RemoteWorkRoutine
#WorkLifeBalance