Back into everyday life: step by step.
After parental leave, a move or an intense project, a lot comes back at once. A step-by-step plan with a daily budget you choose yourself shows how much already fits again. For work, German law offers part-time options that spread out the return.
A plan in stages makes the return manageable
After a long break or a very full phase, many things change at once: working hours, commutes, childcare, housework. Each task on its own is manageable. Together they quickly add up to a full day.
A plan in stages makes the total visible. Fixed appointments come first, then errands and commutes, then everything else. Whatever no longer fits into the daily budget, you plan for another day.
Part-time during parental leave and bridge part-time
- Part-time during parental leave: under § 15(4) of the German Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG) you may work up to 32 hours per week on a monthly average during parental leave.
- Bridge part-time: under § 9a of the German Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act (TzBfG) you can ask to reduce your contractual working hours for a fixed period of one to five years if you have been employed for more than six months. Further conditions, such as company size, are set out in the law.
Legal information as of 20 October 2026, without guarantee. This is a summary of German law; the wording of the law applies.
Your daily budget grows with you
In the mypacing day plan you set your own daily budget in energy points. For the first weeks after your return you can choose a smaller budget and adjust it yourself later. The app only does the maths and shows how much is planned and how much is free.
Commutes and transitions count too: picking up from nursery, the commute, the first team meeting after months away.
The weekly review shows the weeks after your return
The weekly review puts effort, recovery and wellbeing side by side over weeks and months. This shows how your days develop after the return. If you connect Apple Health or Health Connect, resting heart rate, HRV and sleep are added, compared with your usual range.
mypacing does not judge your return and does not set a pace. You decide on budget and pace.
Sources
All information on this page is based on legal texts, public authorities and manufacturers’ documentation. Most sources are in German. The description of mypacing features reflects the app as of 20 October 2026.
- § 15 Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz (Anspruch auf Elternzeit), Bundesministerium der Justiz. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- § 9a Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz (Zeitlich begrenzte Verringerung der Arbeitszeit), Bundesministerium der Justiz. Accessed 20 October 2026.
Read more
Energy points
How energy points work, how to assign points, and why the budget always stays yours.
Energy management instead of time management
Why two meetings of the same length can cost very different amounts of energy, and how to spread a week by effort.
The daily check-in
Four short questions, one of them required: what the check-in records and how your own answers add to the measured values in your history.