Leaving on time
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- qTime
Why is this forbidden in most agencies?
Even where we don't have much work on its frowned upon to leave on time.
- desmo0
Because there is this unwritten rule within agency land that if you dont work 80 hours per week, you are slacking. Its just how it goes.
- BaskerviIle0
When you're on your deathbead, will you regret leaving on time against your agency's wishes? No.
Are you contracted until a certain time of day? If so, and there's no more work to do...leave. No one wants to be the first our the door, but we can all change that mentality. As designers we pull enough late nights to not have to feel guilty about staying late.I once did a calculation that if you stayed 1 hour late every day, then you in essence negate your holiday allowance.
We work 227 days a year (52x5days a week, minus bank hols and 25 days annual leave).
So if you stay 1 hour late each day, that's 227 hours per year extra that you work.
There are 7.5 working hours in a day where I work.227 / 7.5 = 30 days
That's 30 extra days worked, in a year where you're only given 25 days of holiday. So you've cancelled out that time already.
Makes you think.
That said, being a designer is a privilege, and much more fun than a lot of boring desk jobs, so an hour late isn't that bad if you truly enjoy your job.
- Being a designer is a privilege? Hmm.qTime
- Soon they will tell you that having a job is a privilege.
But good points on the maths!qTime - Being a designer should be a privilege, better than being an accountant! And with unemployment the way it is, having a job is a privilegeBaskerviIle
- having a job is kind of a privilegeBaskerviIle
- No its a necessity. Next your be telling us that getting paid is a privilege.qTime
- Some accountants I know like their job. Plus they take home a lot more.qTime
- I feel privileged to be a designer.monospaced
- Exactly Mono. We're lucky our passion is also our jobBaskerviIle
- A pleasure, yes, but privelige? We provide a service just lika anyone else.CyBrainX
- Don't kid your self that this is the best job in the world and your lucky.qTime
- Just look at that guy who die of cancerqTime
- I'm sure accountants like their jobs and feel privileged too.monNom
- Baskerville, the swivel eyed elite want you to think that your 'lucky to have this job' so you slave away more hours. 'lucky'.qTime
- Ummm, you sound like a kid sometimes qTime. Trust me, doing what you truly love is a privelege.monospaced
- utopian0
10am-3pm
* with a 2 hour lunch
- vaxorcist0
I worked in an agency where we had a deal with our CD... we come in at 11 am the next morning if we stay late... we only have to be there 9am once a week for meetings...
This was because the real work got done from 5-7pm, after the constant buzz of account-people-nervous-energy had left the building and we could all finally focus....
- marychain0
I used to give a shit if people saw me leave on time....now I don't.
I don't want to come home after my son goes to bed...most shit can wait. I pull the late nights when necessary, but I'm leaving at 5 if I can.
- qTime0
So who here leaves on time?
- monospaced0
When I first started working here I never left "on time," and made a point to stay late and give the appearance that I was working my ass off, which I was. I also noticed that certain people who had been there for awhile, successful people, were taking off whenever they wanted without anyone seeming to raise an eyebrow. I thought there was some unfairness, just like the tone of your post.
Four years later, I come and go as I please. Nobody says shit like they used to when I started. The difference is that I put in my dues, proved that I get my work done whether I'm in the office or not, and always deliver as promised. So, if people are not cool with you leaving on time, it's probably because they suck at their jobs.
- Or they haven't earned the trust yet.CyBrainX
- you're right, D, that's more what I meanmonospaced
- Maaku0
If I have to work extra hours under a flat fee, I quit (I've done it before and i'll do it again). I am really anal about organized work and by-the-book process. If you can work like this there is no need to leave after 6:00 unless there's a dumbass client with last minute requests.
- marychain0
get in and bust ass early...most agency designers stroll in late, surf the web and bullshit until lunch. I get more done before lunch than most designers do all day....then I check out at 5.
- qTime0
One of the reasons I'm now freelance is I get to leave on time or get paid.
From what I've seen at most agencies no one moves an inch before 7pm, or perhaps thats just the places where I have worked.
- mekk0
I leave 10 to 20 minutes after, but i come some minutes later. When I see the working times of our clients I could get really really angry - 38,5 (!!) hours/week, every minute over is payed extra or you can go home earlyer. Some folks work 30 minutes longer Mo-Thu and leave 2hrs (which means 12'o clock)
I don't think that I will say ("Oh boy, how good would that 2 hours more a day have been") in 10 years. I don't regret leaving on time.
- cannonball19780
Don't give more than you are paid to.
- d_rek0
I'm out the door around 4pm everyday. Fuck all that noise. I rarely have anything so important or urgent at work as to keep me from my family. I have a daughter and wife i'd rather be spending time with.
- CALLES0
quit QBN
- vaxorcist0
focus > time...
strange how that is... at least from a developer's standpoint, we may bill by the hour, but often 15 minutes of "web surfing" was really research on stackoverflow... and it may saved you hours of crap coding taking a sideways approach that would have to be redone....
the "open mode" of creativity vs the "closed mode" of "buckle-down" ... beware of trying to solve problems in the "closed mode" of thought can get you lost but makes you look like you're "working hard"...
Watch the John Cleese creativity video at this point...
http://tinyurl.com/cleese-open-a…
http://www.brainpickings.org/ind…
- mg330
How many of you have to bill hours towards client work that is evaluated by your directors?
I usually come in around 9:30 and leave on average between 6:30 and 7:00. I would LOVE to start coming in at 8:30 and leave at 5:00 - 5:30. But, like someone said above, some of my most productive work is after 5:00 pm. Whole days can be such run-arounds. I manage about 12 clients and help out with a few more, and to get my 7 - 8 hours of billable client work each day, it often takes more hours in the office to do that. Add lunch, dicking around to clear my mind, etc. and it all adds up.
- I tried coming in early but my boss didn't like it and wanted me to stay late. - I quit.qTime
- FallowDeer0
As a junior all those years ago, I would tell my folks ill be working late - "well at least your getting paid"
They didn't understand that in this industry working overtime doesn't result in extra pay. Like I had to be grateful I had a job.
- GeorgesII0
I only lived this situation in a agency I was working at years ago,
no one dared leaving, till the king boss did,
it was awfull,
Now I come and leave when I want as long as the work is done and without error, I guess it comes with trust, if your boss sees that your are a person he could trust why would he care when you come or leave
I also often come the earliest because I need my silence and can work better without all the noise and distractions
- mg330
We used to have this culture where people loved to brag about how much they worked at home. Like it was some kind of status of worth that you're willing to go home and insert work into your personal life.
Luckily that changed a bit. We became a new company in August and left our parent company that was a 50,000 person global company. But when I can tell that people are working tons of hours per month, working at home, etc. I always think "what are you doing wrong? What are you doing, or are we as a business doing that means you have to work well above 40 hours a week even as salaried employees?"