I took a bunch of time off (unpaid) after our first kid, and it was definitely helpful. For the second one though, I took a different tack.
I just dropped down to 4 day weeks.
It was actually easy enough to do. I'd already been gone entirely for a few weeks, then I came back most of the way to full time, then... I just never ramped back up the rest of the way. (I bill by the hour, so there was never a salary discussion to muddy the waters).
That was over a year ago. I'm healthier now than I was then (partly from that extra day of chasing kids around, partly because with 3 day weekends all the time you find extra time in the mix for things like mountain biking). And I seem to be just as productive since I come in to each week with a nice clear mind, without having to have crammed and entire weekend worth of activity into just 2 days.
I toy with the idea of dropping down to 3 day weeks.
I just dropped down to 4 day weeks.
It was actually easy enough to do. I'd already been gone entirely for a few weeks, then I came back most of the way to full time, then... I just never ramped back up the rest of the way. (I bill by the hour, so there was never a salary discussion to muddy the waters).
That was over a year ago. I'm healthier now than I was then (partly from that extra day of chasing kids around, partly because with 3 day weekends all the time you find extra time in the mix for things like mountain biking). And I seem to be just as productive since I come in to each week with a nice clear mind, without having to have crammed and entire weekend worth of activity into just 2 days.
I toy with the idea of dropping down to 3 day weeks.