Preparing for Parental Leave
As I write this, I have just one day left before I begin my first maternity leave. I am full of mixed emotions, which has been true on multiple levels over the course of the past nine (plus!) months. As I have prepared for this time away, I have reflected immensely, learned a lot, and most importantly, gotten myself to the place of letting go. So for anyone else preparing for parental leave of any kind, I’m sharing some of my key reflections. To note: I am not going to address some of the more major issues with parental leave in the U.S.—particularly the lack of universal access to it, which is a massive problem. Instead, I am going to write for the lucky few who are able to take leave and focus on how best to prepare for it.
Making Your Plan
Every company is different, so the easy part is to follow any processes that have already been set up—think things like getting all of your paperwork squared away and following any guidelines they have. In terms of making a coverage plan that you (and others!) feel comfortable with, consider the following, all of which were extremely helpful for me:
Think Ahead: I started creating my plan almost four months ahead of time. Using a Google Excel Spreadsheet, I mapped out a timeline, starting 14 weeks before my due date. For each week, I added in key organizational happenings, 2-3 priorities per each week, and notes. Did I fill out every single week fully? No, way! But it was a great starting point for mapping out the important milestones I would be working to meet along the way.
Coverage: For most of us, our job goes far beyond our job description. It’s usually easy to maintain that mindset day in and day out, but when you’re preparing for leave, it’s a whole other ballgame. I sat down and tried to map out everything that I do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. I then began to assign interim owners of each. It is important to both make sure they know they’ll be covering for you, and to also have as much information in advance as possible—so make the time to have advance conversations and loop folks into email chains as early as possible.
Plan For The Unexpected: I never thought that I would have the opportunity to wrap things up nicely a few days before my due date. I’ve known countless colleagues and friends who have had their babies early, so I knew it was a possibility—and planned for it. I drafted an out of office, wrote explicit directions for who would do what when I went into labor (checking for meetings that would need to be cancelled, letting the team know, etc.), and created the 14 week roadmap. I haven’t needed to set this things in motion, but was so glad they were ready to go if needed. For the last week, every day has been a ‘bonus’, and has allowed me to work on long-term projects and answer last minute questions before I do officially sign off and rest until the baby comes.
Letting Things Go
As prepared as I feel, I know I have forgotten many things—I’m sure many are minor and a few are major—but I am going to need to trust that everything will be fine (because, it will be!). As a fellow colleague told me early on, this is a moment in time—just a blip on the map, for both you, and the organization. Enjoy it, and let go. A few ways I worked to let things go are as follows.
A Brief Apology: I felt the need to apologize in advance, for all of the things I know that I have forgotten. My colleagues were incredible and told me to not apologize, but I did, because honestly, it just made me feel better. So don’t feel like you need to apologize—but make sure to do what you need to do to feel okay, and released from your work, for however long your leave is.
Transitioning Back: For some time, I felt very nervous about my transition back into the organization (maybe I’ll write about this once I actually do transition back in!). I quickly realized that I needed to let that fear go, and have been able to do so fairly successfully. I have done the following to minimize my nervousness: 1) Acknowledging that things will look different when I get back—and that’s okay, 2) Acknowledging that I will be different when I get back—and that’s okay, 3) Completely blocking out three days after I return for email and catching up—and knowing I might need to add even more than that.
They’ll Be Okay: For many of us (myself included!) it is easy to get into a mindset of ‘only I know this or can do this’. Well, it’s just not true. Basically anything I do at work can be done by someone else (I still cringe when I think that—it’s nice to feel irreplaceable!), and I’m now at a place, where I know that people will probably do an even better job than me at a lot of things. I’ll trust in my colleagues while I’m gone, and I’ll trust in myself when I get back—and the work will keep on moving.