Going Above and Beyond at the Office

This morning my other half had to be on the south side so he dropped me at work early on the way through the city. 

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?