And for those who put their job above their family? Why bother having a family in the first place? What happens when you are regarded as too old and useless to work? At my job, the workaholics who retire usually drop dead a few years later. They have nothing to live for anymore. How pathetic. I’m not interested in their “work ethic” nor do they make me feel lazy or bad for putting in a normal day’s work. I just look at them and shake my head. 60 hours a week? 70 – 90 hours a week? Nah, you can keep it.

Coming in early only seems to count as a plus if you leave late. Starting work at 7 a.m. doesn’t help your cause if you leave “early” at 5 p.m. Even leaving as soon as 5:30 is pushing your luck.

It still looks bad to be seen leaving at or before 5, even when all of the work is done and I am quite literally turning a screw for the last hour trying to look busy.

Instead, I can come in at 8:30 a.m. and leave at 5:45 p.m. -working less hours- with minimal friction.

Still, the managers will look at the total number of hours worked in a pay period to determine who to give a bonus and who to give the ax.

So my hierarchy would be as follows, in order of importance:

–MOST IMPORTANT–
Time punched out.
Total number of hours worked in a pay period.
Time punched in.
What you are actually accomplishing during your working time.
–LEAST IMPORTANT–

Source: personal experience. Someday it might be worth a PhD.

The fact of the matter is, there are NO SHORT CUTS!

Stop wishing leaders would take it easier so you can take it easier. Work harder!

Best,

Sam
Yakezie Lifestyle

Now I work less, work better, and win more accolades, get more sales, and get sick less, all because I don’t conform to the cult of overwork. I’m in the minority, but I’m happy. And that lady? Well, she still works her heart out, and complains the whole way.

As for ‘leaving on time’ being disrespectful, I don’t agree. Going ‘above and beyond’ sometimes, does you no favors. Going by my example, a lot of times people treat us like dirt at closing time in our store. Often, they expect us to keep the store open just for them to continue browsing! If a person is nice, and I’m assisting them prior to closing, I’ll happily finish my task before leaving them, especially if they are aware they are inconveniencing us (i.e. our store has closed/is closing and they are hurrying) and not treating us like, ‘well I want service even beyond closing time because I’m always right and I’ll take my time because of it’. If a person is disrespectful, I do them no favors. You wouldn’t reward your child for bad behavior, so why is it acceptable in the work place? We have set hours for a reason. Inconvenience works both ways. It’s just as inconvenient to be asked an elaborate question that requires 15 minutes of your time when you have 5 minutes of work left, as it is to not receive that service when you’re needing it.

I’m digressing, but case in point, a lady breezed in just today, wanting to do an item return at 5:37. Our store closes at 5:30. It was more than just being a bit late, or coming in at 5:25. She came in 7 minutes past closing (and all our registers were closed) and got huffy because it was such an inconvenience for her to come ‘so far’ and have us be closed. We always close at 5:30. We’ve closed at that time for over 10 years. It’s nothing new. Had she explained her situation, instead of getting belligerent as soon as walking in, ‘are you closed? I need to return this! *thrust bag in my face*’ we may have been more willing to help her out. Meanwhile, her presence inconvenienced three employees in our area who were waiting for her to leave so we could give the all clear and continue with our duties. It baffles me to this day, why doing the wrong thing (and giving in to these people who are belligerent/doing the wrong thing) reaps results. To give in sets the wrong example. It basically is saying, ‘kick up a big enough tantrum, and you get your way.’ If you complain, you have a license to treat people like dirt. And it promotes that behavior, instead of rewarding kindness and contentious customers– we always give free gifts to those who are foaming at the mouth, and never to the ones who are inconvenienced but are really nice about it. Personally, those are the ones we should be keeping loyal.

Even SuperNanny knows: Tantrums shouldn’t be rewarded. Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it?