Jane Sweeney

When my husband Mark and I were engaged, he asked whether he could raise our children. That was four years before our first son arrived. It was a conversation that set me on my career trajectory: Mark became the primary carer for our three sons, and I focused on building a full-time career that would support our family, enable us to live and work overseas and have the life we wanted for our kids.

After 43 years of working full-time, I went down to four days a week to make room for another role I love: being Nanna to our three grandchildren.

I wanted time to be an active grandparent. Mark and I have the grandchildren staying over regularly, and they are a big part of our lives. Having more time means I can enjoy being involved in their everyday world and build the relationships I want to have with them. It also means we can support our sons, their wives and our eldest son's family as they navigate their own working and parenting lives.

I absolutely love it. I still have stimulating work, clients whose success I care deeply about, and a business I am committed to helping grow. Alongside that, I have more time and energy for my family. Life feels full and awesome.

Working four days has made me think carefully about where I add value. At this stage of my career, my experience and judgement are most useful when I focus on the decisions, relationships and opportunities where I can make a difference.

My advice is to be clear about priorities and availability, trust your colleagues, and make sure the role genuinely fits the time allocated. A reduced-hours arrangement needs to create space in your life; simply squeezing the same workload into fewer days defeats the purpose.

I would love us to broaden the conversation about senior part-time work. Caring responsibilities continue throughout our lives, and grandparents have an important part to play. Experienced people also want room for other things that matter to them while continuing to do challenging, worthwhile work.

For employers, reduced-hours senior roles offer a way to retain experience and leadership. For me, four days has made it possible to keep contributing to a business I love and be the grandparent I want to be.