Rocking up an hour early for my shift, I felt virtuous as I strode through the door with some raisin toast clutched in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, ready to tackle some emails.
Astonishingly most people were already there. I usually arrive at work 15mins early to log in and make a cuppa. Turns out my coworkers are putting in extra hours every single day - for no overtime pay.
Now I have a strict policy when it comes to this sort of thing. That is, I just don't do it. No matter how far behind on my work I get, I resist the temptation to start coming in early or staying late. In my opinion, you've got to be in the higher pay grades than I currently am to have that expected of you. And that path, folks, is a slippery slope downwards to high blood pressure and stress leave. I've seen it and I don't like what it does to a person's work-life balance.
Well, I just re-read this and don't I sound like a slacko? But you know what? If I was ten years younger and being paid a bit more maybe I would be doing ten hour days trying to get ahead.
But I'm not, so I don't. I give 110% in the hours I'm there, I reckon that's enough. I value my down time so much more than helping my employer fill their corporate coffers with the last drops of blood they can squeeze from me, their little worker stone. So I guess if you want a super-keen, over-achieving busy bee that'll stay back at the office to get a little more work done, don't look at me.
I'll be at home, eating chocolate and watching a cooking show. And work will be the last thing on my mind.
Do you put in extra hours? Is it worth it?
Hi, I'm Sarah! I'm 33 and searching for my passion.
Until then, I slog away in a cubicle working full-time and focus on enjoying my downtime with things like TV (my old friend), movies, twitter, (trying to) cook, reading and hanging out with my hubby. My head is turned by things like vintage homewares, stationery, chocolate and scrapbooking. I blog about whatever takes my fancy.
When you work for yourself or in a family business you have to put in the hard yards because no one else will do it for you. I remember my first office job and I would get in half an hour when it was quiet and no phone calls would come through and I could catch up with paperwork, but while it didn't help me climb the corporate ladder I felt good in myself knowing I was doing the right thing by the company that employed me and my manager would give me an extended lunch break or an afternoon off if I needed to. For me it comes down to being proud of having a job and pride in my work. But I have worked for a company where it was expected to work into the night and the moral was low and there was a high turn over of staff. At the end of the day if you love your job, the hours don't always matter.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. My current job is for a very large corporation where they love to extract their pound of flesh. There are no consequences for me NOT doing overtime, and so at the moment for my own health and balance I will not!
DeleteIn a small company though< I can see how the culture would be different and I would probably feel differently about it.
I made it a rule to NEVER start early and anything over 15 minutes at the end of the day I made sure was paid back as time owed or as money. There is no point killing yourself for a job where no one actually appreciates it. God I sound bitter and twisted but you've heard my war stories.
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