Little things that make huge differences with work
Post written by: beagooddad
I have spent many years now primarily working from 6-2:30. Life has been good. I get home and get to spend a few hours with my family before dinner. I can get chores done before dinner. Then I can eat dinner and help put the kids to bed.
It has really been good.
But my new assignment looked like it was going to make me work from 9-5:30 for a few months. Which meant I wouldn’t get home until about 6:45pm.
My kids, and I’m sure a lot of young kids around the world, go to bed around 7:30.
This means I wouldn’t get to spend a couple hours with my family before dinner. I wouldn’t get chores done before dinner. I wouldn’t get to eat dinner with the family. I would pretty much just be able to play with them for a half hour before starting to get ready for bed.
Today was my fourth day on the assignment. I asked the director in charge of me there what would be the earliest I could start my days. He said whenever I want. So, starting tomorrow I will be working from 6-2:30 for the rest of the project.
Which means many hours with the family before dinner. It means some chores will get done before dinner. It means much food will be eaten at family dinners. It still means only two kids will get put to bed until October.
Here’s where the story gets fairly amazing.
While chit chatting with the boss, he asked where I lived. I told him. He said, “That’s a long way away. When things settle down in a few days, we’ll get you set up to work remote so you can just stay at home.”
After they picked me up off the floor, I greatly enjoyed the rest of my last late shift for a while.
The assignment changed from a 10 1/2 to 11 hour commitment (counting commute and lunch) 5 days a week to a 8 1/2 hour commitment starting in a few days. Think about that for a couple minutes.
Is there anything you could ask your boss to let you change about your current job and/or schedule that would make your hours away from work better? If so, you need to talk to them.
April 4th, 2007 at 10:03 am
I’ve been really blessed with flexibility at work.
I was done at 4, every day, with my previous job. Not much time off, but I was home the same time every day, and work always stayed at work.
My new job came with a laptop and remote connections ready to go. I can work from home when needed, and at the last minute. I’m also done at 3:30.
I feel kinda spoiled, yet at the same time it feels as it should be.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am
I worked for a virtual company many years ago and loved it. After having children, I opted to stay home with them, until a month or so ago when I took a contract job. I now have a 45-minute commute one-way and close to an hour the other way (college town causes this). Not only am I missing the “normal” work times, but I’m missing an extra hour every day due to the commute (average around here is 30 minutes one-way). Although I can pretty much set my hours, I either miss time with the boys in the mornings or late in the day. It’s been very hard for me to adjust, and the boys too. Now I feel like it’s just not worth it, although the money’s nice but not really necessary. Our house is a wreck, I rarely cook a decent meal, and when everyone gets home, it’s rush-rush-rush to find time to spend with them and get them ready for bed. I asked about telecommuting but it’s a pilot program here and I’m not eligible.
I used to think it was nicer to have “lots” of money so one could spoil their children. Now I think that no amount of money is worth not being with them. When this contract is up, I don’t think I’ll take another one that doesn’t allow me to work on my own terms!
Re-reading this, it sounds depressing. Don’t misusnderstand; I enjoy working, just not spending 11 hours of my day doing an 8-hour job!
April 5th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
As a project manager and now a department head, I find it extremely hard to telecommute the two days a week I was given permission to do. Sure I can get my work done, but it can get frustrating to hunt down people and get agreements remotely that could be done in a 1 minute hallway conversation. Also, for some weird reason, clients always insist on in-person meetings the day I’m not in the office forcing me to change my schedule which ticks off my wife.
Plus there’s this weird vibe of a few people who seem to resent that I can work remotely but they cannot. So I have to overcompensate to make put in even more hours to demonstrate I’m not slacking off somewhere.
But I have to do this to help my wife take care of the kids.
At times, I feel like telling everyone to go jump in a lake.
April 6th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
One of the nice things about being a consultant is that there is so much focus on getting the project done so that the client is not wasting money, that you don’t get the same kind of personal friendship stuff. I think they would almost prefer to lock me in a closet until the project is done. As long as I can meet deadlines, the working remote thing seems to be gaining a little bit of popularity over the last year.
It can be lonely at times, but at least it helps allow me to be around the house while the kids are actually awake.