<story><title>How to become a part-time programmer</title><url>https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>vemv</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve done this for a number of years. This would be my current advice:&lt;p&gt;- Don&amp;#x27;t try it on-site (unless they specifically were seeking a consultant beforehand). It&amp;#x27;ll just create resent.&lt;p&gt;- Therefore go for remote jobs. Which don&amp;#x27;t need to be advertised as such - strong applicants can negotiate a remote arrangement.&lt;p&gt;- Don&amp;#x27;t bill by the hour, but daily. Leaving your earnings aside, this approach puts the focus in work days, not hours (duh), therefore you aren&amp;#x27;t framed as a &amp;#x27;part-time&amp;#x27; contributor.&lt;p&gt;- When asked how many hours your work day takes, reply &amp;quot;as much as needed&amp;quot;. This would be in fact a honest response. Some days (especially as you join a team) you&amp;#x27;ll need 6-8h&amp;#x2F;d to perform acceptably. Gradually you&amp;#x27;ll be able to deliver the same in 3-5h&amp;#x2F;d.&lt;p&gt;- The key part is, employer&amp;#x2F;client is only aware (in principle) of days and results (tickets closed, commits pushed, meetings attended, etc). Again this is not hiding the truth - it is focusing on the results.&lt;p&gt;- Do keep track internally of your time spent per day, and have some way to graph your productivity vs. the time spent. That graph can eventually save your ass!&lt;p&gt;- Be aware that (at least IME), even if spending as little as 3 effective hours per day, a large chunk of your day can revolve around work, especially if you interact with a typical team. This includes being available in Slack, for meetings etc.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mseebach</author><text>Especially in terms of resentment, it seems risky to conflate &amp;quot;remote&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;part time&amp;quot;, especially without very clear boundaries. This is exactly the fear many managers have about remote work: that it gradually slides into part time work. It&amp;#x27;s not at all generally accepted that if you can do &amp;quot;a days work&amp;quot; in three hours, you get to take the rest of the day off.&lt;p&gt;If you want to decouple hours spent from your earnings without risking resentment, you need to find a way to bill firm fixed price for well-defined deliverables. This is very difficult and risky, to say the least (but very valuable if you can pull it off).&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t agree with the assertion that a negotiated part time agreement with clearly defined boundaries (&amp;quot;John works Tuesdays, Thursday and Friday and isn&amp;#x27;t expected to be available on email or Slack, except under the same kinds of emergencies when we&amp;#x27;d call people on weekends&amp;quot;) necessarily created resentment outside of how other workplace status dynamics might create resentment -- meaning, something your boss should manage, and if they can&amp;#x27;t, that person shouldn&amp;#x27;t be your boss.</text></comment>
<story><title>How to become a part-time programmer</title><url>https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>vemv</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve done this for a number of years. This would be my current advice:&lt;p&gt;- Don&amp;#x27;t try it on-site (unless they specifically were seeking a consultant beforehand). It&amp;#x27;ll just create resent.&lt;p&gt;- Therefore go for remote jobs. Which don&amp;#x27;t need to be advertised as such - strong applicants can negotiate a remote arrangement.&lt;p&gt;- Don&amp;#x27;t bill by the hour, but daily. Leaving your earnings aside, this approach puts the focus in work days, not hours (duh), therefore you aren&amp;#x27;t framed as a &amp;#x27;part-time&amp;#x27; contributor.&lt;p&gt;- When asked how many hours your work day takes, reply &amp;quot;as much as needed&amp;quot;. This would be in fact a honest response. Some days (especially as you join a team) you&amp;#x27;ll need 6-8h&amp;#x2F;d to perform acceptably. Gradually you&amp;#x27;ll be able to deliver the same in 3-5h&amp;#x2F;d.&lt;p&gt;- The key part is, employer&amp;#x2F;client is only aware (in principle) of days and results (tickets closed, commits pushed, meetings attended, etc). Again this is not hiding the truth - it is focusing on the results.&lt;p&gt;- Do keep track internally of your time spent per day, and have some way to graph your productivity vs. the time spent. That graph can eventually save your ass!&lt;p&gt;- Be aware that (at least IME), even if spending as little as 3 effective hours per day, a large chunk of your day can revolve around work, especially if you interact with a typical team. This includes being available in Slack, for meetings etc.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>itamarst</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve done it on site, as have other people I know, with no resentment by anyone. Depends on organization, maybe.</text></comment>