SubscribeFri 14 Dec 2007
I set a new record on consecutive daily weekdays posts On Wednesday. I only set it because I broke the streak yesterday when I failed to make a post. Even though I set a new record, I can say with a clean conscience I’m am not in the Mitchell report. Like Roger Clemens I have never tested positive for steroids, and unlike Roger my face has never been suspiciously puffy except after eating too much.
I’ve been extremely busy at work this past week, logging about 60 hours over the last 4 days. It’s kicked my ass. In general my work schedule is pretty good. I work 40-45 hours week, basically 9-6. I don’t need to be in exactly at anytime, and can easily take some afternoons off or show up late every so often. However because of the nature of my work, I go through some very busy periods. This past week was one of them, and I can look forward to another stretch of long hours in the few months after the new year. Times like this make me think, it would nice to know that I can be home by 6pm everyday. However then I think about not having the flexibility to sleep in every so often, and am glad that I have flexibility.
What do you prefer?
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December 14th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Again and again studies show that having a flexible schedule increases happiness. If I had to work 10 hours per day, but could choose when, versus 8 hours per day where I had to punch in and out, I think my choice would be simple. I used to show up for my Big 4 job at 10 or 11 most mornings and work until 10 or 11. I had flexibility, but the total hours weren’t flexible. REAL flexibility is having the ability to work exactly enough to finish your job - and not to worry about ‘face time.’
December 15th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I like ‘flexible but volatile’, but I struggle with taking advantage of the slow times. There’s a risk with flexible that it can take over your life. Regular hours can be a good form of imposed structure and discipline, I must admit. But the real reason I like flexible is that it’s production focused, where regular hours can sometimes seem like you’re just making a guest appearance and it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you’re ‘on air’ for 8 hours. That’s a real motivation killer I find.