I work as a SWE at a big tech company and going down to working 60%, which will leave me with 2 extra free days a week.
I'm curious as to what people who work part-time do with their extra day(s)? Assuming you don't have responsibilities such as child care, etc.
My ideas include developing a new skill or subject, strengthening a hobby, volunteering. Is there anything you've done that you would recommend doing?
I have also been helping to develop an approach to landslide monitoring in small watersheds. Basically if a watershed is just the right size, there seems to be a strong correlation between river levels and landslide activity. In smaller watersheds the height of the river changes rapidly with localized rainfall. It seems that monitoring the river height becomes a proxy for measuring the primary landslide risk factors such as soil moisture content. I'm hoping to help develop a real-time monitoring system for parts of southeast Alaska, which are facing more frequent landslide activity as a result of changing rainfall patterns.
It's also really important to not try and work 40 hours a week. Working 60% is really freeing, and I'm glad to hear you don't have to grind as hard as we're often pushed to these days.