In an industry where we all work so hard, put in many unpaid hours of overtime and usually work straight through our lunch break, what is the problem with actually leaving on time occasionally?
Yesterday I had a really slow day. There wasn't much to do and I wasn't feeling very productive so when the clock ticked closer to 6pm I started to get really excited about actually leaving on time and getting home before 7pm for once. But then I thought - does it look bad if I leave at 6pm on the dot? Should I wait around? What is the protocol?
We all seem to have this standoff round the time of 6pm as none of us want to be the first to leave because we think it looks bad; but if I'm not actually doing anything why can't I go? I usually end up working from 9am-8pm anyways so what's wrong with leaving on time every so often?
I felt guilty yesterday. I suddenly started thinking that this might look bad, that I might not get offered another contract, that my boss will think I'm a slacker and that I'm not working hard enough.
*slap*
Get over yourself Miss M! Work isn't the be all and end all, leave on time every so often!
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Is it time to go home yet?
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9 comments:
Easier said then done...always a hard one. What is it with London !!! :P
I love my job. Anyone still there after four either came in more than an hour late, was planning to finish something later in the day and will get time off to make up for it, or is in the middle of a games tournament with the rest of the team.
Funny, I went through the same thing on Wednesday. After my long weekend off, I went in to work late after taking my pregnant other half to the hospital for a check-up. I only got in at 10.30am and then felt guilty taking lunch or leaving at 5pm. Why? What about those mornings I start early ‘cos of an 8am meeting or worked late ‘cos a customer decided to call me at 4.55pm?
Ja nee, you've got the South African hardworking gene...
Don't feel bad about leaving early though - I'm sure your boss realises how hard you work and that leaving early now and then is not a bad thing. (If not, your boss can't be a smart person.)
In fact, leaving early may just let them think you have a, um, well-balanced, healthy life. Or just a life, for that matter...
i leave early regularly, not hours but if i'm done 10 minutes early i leave. i work hard, give more than i should so when i can leave early, i pop my head into my boss's office and say..."i worked my arse off today, so i'm leaving early ok?" your hours are hectic, really, don't work so hard that your life slips away, there's so much more to life than work!!
@sweetass - You're so right. In this job most people tend to lose their lives and fighting really hard for that not to happen :)
@gem - You're so right!! London demands everything from you doesn't it?
@mr. rabbit - I hate you.
@toby - I think you're right, most people say that Saffa's do tend to work really hard. I must lose that me thinks.
@delboy - Give some, take some, they can't be made at you for taking your significant other to the doctor when she's pregnant! I figure we should be able to maintain our own hours, if we work late one day then leave early the next. Much better :)
Ah yes – the end of working day standoff – my office used to be exactly the same! I’ve stopped caring though – especially since most of the people that stick around after 5pm are just there so that they can muck around on Facebook.
If we have any hope of having any life outside of work – we gotta just ignore the looks (which are probably imaginary and a result of an overactive guilty conscience) as we waltz out the door at a reasonable hour once in a while!
msmozi is spot on! People are usually just stuffing around if they're at work really late...unless they're in finance...which I'm not - do my stuffing around during working hour, it's called presenteeism.
Miss M, it's the same shit at every workplace. You're always going to get that anal colleague with no life to speak of outside the office, who metaphorically taps his/her watch at you when you leave. Stuff 'em!
Hell, forget just leaving on time some days ... some days you should just leave early :)
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