Do you bring work home with you?

[zoebartlett]

This is a truly random question, but in my circle, I'm kind of known for them.

Are you strictly a 9-to-5er, or do you put in more work at home?

I was in the lunchroom today and a coworker of mine, who is a really great teacher, was saying that she rarely brings work home with her at night. I don't know how she does it. She has her job down to a science, that's for sure. She comes to work a few minutes earlier than when we need to be there and she leaves not long after school gets out. She's the type to make sure our contracts are being adhered to, and if she's not getting paid extra, she doesn't put in a whole lot other than what's expected.

On the other hand, I also know teachers who arrive almost 2 hours early, stay an extra 30-60 minutes, and still bring home things to work on. Now, obviously I don't know how much actually gets done at home by these people, but at least they put on a good show of making it look like they do so much extra.

I'm somewhere in the middle.

This relates to the work/life balance issue that many have a hard time juggling. I know I do anyway.

 

[kama_s]

What an apt topic for me because I was pretty much just grumbling under my breath for having to bring my laptop home. I havent brought work home in a while now, although i do pull an 8:30 to 6:00 schedule everyday and usually without a lunch break. I don't mind too much because I am a consultant, so I bill for all my extra hours.

At my old company, I was paid significantly less and averaged at minimum 60 hours a month. My job was stressful and I wasn't all too happy about the situation. I remember posting a similar question on PS then, because I was curious to know how much overtime other ladies put in and if the were happy doing it and satisfied with the compensation. The way I look at it, I am getting paid for the excellent work I do DURING business hours. I dont have a Charity-of-Kama open here!

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

I definitely have a hard time shutting down work for the day. My last job was so hectic and stressful I would DREAM about all the terrible things that could happen because I forgot to do something or forgot to sign something or forgot to call someone. I compulsively kept lists - EVERYWHERE because I was so scared to forget something! I would go on vacation and panic for the first two days and check work email on my phone before I would finally settle down and relax, then I'd come back to work and think what a madhouse it was. My new job is so relatively easy that I can detach. I think it all depends on the job and what you are doing.

I can imagine for teachers it would be especially hard to disconnect for the day. I like to put a ton of effort into my work for the personal satisfaction it gives me and it would kill me to have to drop something in the middle because it's time to clock out. I need to know I'm doing a good job and finishing what I need to finish in order for me to have any kind of peace of mind.

 

[kama_s]

Gosh, Mrs. Val, we must've had the same job! I do think you make a good point about doing your job well, but there a fine line between doing a fantastic job and being taken advantage of. The former motivates me, the latter not so much. I'm glad I left my previous job at the turning point.

 

[Octavia]

Nope. I'm actually not allowed to, for two reasons. 1) Confidentiality. Most of my files aren't allowed to leave the office, so there's really not much I could do from home. 2) I'm only allowed to work 40 hours per week, period. I don't quite understand the timekeeping system, since my pay is specified in yearly salary but I still have to report my hours, and I was told that if we work more than 40 they have to pay us overtime, which isn't in the budget. But hey, if this is what they want, I'm happy enough with it. And I imagine that when this job ends (it's for 2 years max), I'll end up in a job where I have to bring lots of work home. So I'll enjoy this while I can.

 

[elrohwen]

Yes, it's expected at my job. If something really needs to be done in the evening or on weekends, it's assumed that you'll get it done. My job can be done almost entirely from the computer (except for meetings, it can be done 100% from a computer) so often 5min at home can accomplish a lot. I try to spend as little time as possible doing things at home, but there are many people who go home and spend all evening attached to their laptops. It also depends how important your sector is - mine isn't that important, so it's rare that I would need to do anything on a weekend (and on weeknights, pretty much everything can wait until the morning). I haven't been there very long though and people who have a lot of experience and manage important areas end up doing a lot of work on weekends. And if you don't get it done, someone will call you to yell at you

A lot of people in my group whine about the extra hours, but some get in at 8 and go home at 5 every day, so I dunno (though that 8-to-5 person says he goes home and does an extra hour of work with a glass of wine; he just became our boss, so he's obviously doing something right). I guess I'll see how i goes as I get more responsibilities. DH works for the same company (though a different area) and probably works from home every other week and a few weekends a year. However, I'm in manufacturing which is a much more immediate need than his job.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes. But my job is not 9-5 (Prof) and I like to sleep in or get started slowing in the AM, usually not into the office until 10/11am, so I often do an hour or so in the evening after our son is in bed. I probably do this 2-3 times a week and sometimes on the weekend.

 

[Puppmom]

Nope. I can't for confidentiality reasons and wouldn't even if I could.

I don't think I could work at a place where the culture warrants long work days and bringing work home. I'm not nearly that important.

 

[sirbenson]

Nope. But I'm a unionized Government worker so its pretty much a given that I will never do work on my own time Only time I'll do somethng at night is if I wasted time during the day doing nothing and need to (off the record) make up time.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

9 to 5 all the way A lot of that has to do with the fact that my work CANNOT leave the office. At all. Ever. I love the fact that it allows me to never feel guilty while at home, but, if I get behind it sucks to have a time crunch to catch up in.

 

[Haven]

I bring work home, but I don't work a typical schedule.

Now that I teach FT at a CC, my schedule looks like this:
Monday through Thursday I teach from 8 to 11, then I hold office hours until 1:20. At 1:20 I either stay at work to get my work done, or I take it home.
Friday I teach from 9:30 to 12:30 and then I have a new faculty seminar until 3:30. We have department and division meetings most Mondays, too.
I put in an additional 5 to 15 hours of work at home per week. In total it's really manageable and I feel I've achieved a nice work/life balance.

When I taught high school, however, it was a completely different story. I had to be at work every day at 7 (per our contract) but I didn't teach first hour so I never taught before 9:20. Then, I'd teach from 9:20 to 3:20 every day, stay after EVERY SINGLE DAY until either 5 or 6 for my speech team, sometimes later, and then bring a huge amount of work home with me. And I spent my Saturdays at speech tournaments for most of the year. It was awful. I was working a minimum of 60 hours a week, and I was miserably overworked and had no energy left for my life outside of work.

 

[April20]

It's stuck at home with me! I can't bring it home with me as I office at home (when I'm there), but in the terms of working late and during times that are really "off" hours, yes, I absolutely bring it home. I travel so much, that I often have no choice. I spent 2.5 hours working on Saturday taking care of things that I just can't do from the road since I am traveling Mon-Thurs this week.

I have NO work/life balance. It's a really bad trap to fall into and once you're in, it's really hard to climb out. Part of why I resigned..... I've got 2.5 more weeks of full time work and then about 4-5 weeks of part time (like that'll be part time!) and then I'm taking a break for a while.

ETA: I am averaging 60+ hours a week. Craziness that I said I would never do!!

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

Gosh, Mrs. Val, we must've had the same job! I do think you make a good point about doing your job well, but there a fine line between doing a fantastic job and being taken advantage of.

Kama,

We must both be Type A's tee hee! It took me SOOO long to realize that's what was going on!! I wasn't getting paid to freak out about work that much and honestly it wasn't worth it. My efforts weren't really recognized and eventually I had to get over the idea that I was "giving up" and move on. I realize now that it was a great decision!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Work stays at work. I usually work about 35 hours a week as a bankruptcy paralegal so my work revolves around my work computer and the bankruptcy software that's installed on it. Very rarely has my boss called me at home about something going on in the office. At the end of the day I shut the computer off, leave the office and don't worry about it again until the next morning when I get in.

 

[katamari]

Oh heavens yes. I am not in the office 40 hours a week, though--usually more like 25/30. Then, I put an additional 25/30 in at home. I would much rather grade and write at home. Like Dreamer and Haven, I am a prof which really means I kind of have three jobs-- teaching, researching, and service--all of which could be full time and two of which are quite flexible.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I totally can understand teachers not doing extra work when they are at home with one exception - I think checking email can be really important and sometimes needs to be timely. that communication would be the only exception I think should be made.

 

[zoebartlett]

It's interesting to read everyone's replies.

I think I said in my original post that I do take work home with me, but sometimes it just sits in my bag until I leave for school the next day. Other times, I bring home a big stack of papers to correct or something, and then do that while watching TV. The problem is that the more often I do that, the more work I'm doing during time I usually set aside just for me or for my husband and I to do something. It's so easy to say, "oh I'll run a bunch of stuff through the laminator and then cut it out at home," or "I'll look up ideas for this unit online at home" but then it turns into an extra hour or two before I know it (or more/less, depending on the project). I *try* to get as much done at school so that my time at home is mostly mine.

 

[zoebartlett]

I forgot to mention that as a database developer, my husband is pretty much a 9-5er (well, similar hours to that). He shows up at work, works hard during the day, comes home, and doesn't do extra outside of work. He used to carry a beeper and he was on an on-call rotation with others in his dept. When his beeper went off, he'd have to address the problem from home or go back into work. He's not doing that anymore, so he an leave work at work. He's really good at shutting his mind off from his job when he's not there.

 

[zoebartlett]

I think everyone feels like their job never ends. There's always more to be done. I do think it's important to detach at some point though, as Val said. Otherwise you'd become a workaholic and that's no fun.

 

[KimberlyH]

As a consultant home is my office, so yes. When I taught I did on occasion, but tried not to as I am not good at wirking from home. You could often find me in my classroom late in the evening, though. I would often go to my second job then go back to school to get more done and I tended to get to work at least an hour before school started.

 

[lucyandroger]

Yes, we're required to respond to emails at all times unless we are asleep. If I didn't bring work home, I would never be able to leave the office.

 

[elrohwen]

My company has switched from talking about "work/life balance" to "work/life integration". Basically this is code for "We'll let you leave early if you need to, or even work from home once in a while, but if something needs to be done in the evening you had better do it." It's kind of lame, honestly. I don't think I want my work integrated into the rest of my life! I like it better when it's balanced.

 

[zoebartlett]

As a consultant home is my office, so yes. When I taught I did on occasion, but tried not to as I am not good at wirking from home. You could often find me in my classroom late in the evening, though. I would often go to my second job then go back to school to get more done and I tended to get to work at least an hour before school started.

Now that's dedication!

I get to school about an hour earlier than I need to. I love having that time to get things done before others get there. After school, I'm useless. My brain shuts off shortly after the bell rings, so I'm much more efficient in the mornings.

EL -- I agree. That policy seems lame to me.

SDL -- I would imagine it's hard to stop thinking about work when you go home, given the nature/importance of what you do. It's probably a very good thing that you can't work from home.

 

[zoebartlett]

SDL -- I would imagine it's hard to stop thinking about work when you go home, given the nature/importance of what you do. It's probably a very good thing that you can't work from home.

Yes, you're right.. ♥ but.. I'll be working more AT home because I started a business.. I'm reallllllly hoping it does well.. well, of course, huh? lol

Really? That's awesome! Do you care to share details?

 

[fieryred33143]

I used to. But now the way I see it is that if I'm bringing work home then I'm not managing my time in the office effectively enough. I rather work on adjusting that than bring work home. There are days when I'll do it but not as often as I used to. Plus, I'm tired. When I get home, I feel exhausted. I can't concentrate on work at all.

 

[zipzapgirl]

We can log on from home to our computers, but it is terribly slow, so this only makes sense in a pinch. Plus, I commute about an hour home, so by the time I get off the train, I have no desire to work anymore. For better or worse, our department seems to be more on a "stay til it gets done" routine

 

[diamondringlover]

I work from home so yes I do however, I really try to shut the office door at quitting time and walk away from the issues, but I noticed since I have been working from home that is harder to do, not sure why I guess because the my office reminds me of work issues all the time....

 

[shihtzulover]

I can't really bring my work home with me (most of the files have to stay in the building), but I unfortunately tend to bring my worries home with me. I wish I could stop, because sometimes it ruins my nights and weekends.

 

[mrscushion]

Yes. I work in project teams, so we typically stay really late at the office and then I will still bring work home with me from time to time.

 

[Sha]

I used to, but not anymore! Made a strict decision to stop doing that a few weeks ago. When I was bringing work home, most of it wouldn't get done, because I was feeling so resentful at having to bring it home in the first place. I didn't like the fact that it was encroaching onto my personal/family time, especially as a new mom, with time being so limited already. The other thing is that there's no real reason for me to bring my work hom, either, in most cases. If I manage my time well at the office, I can leave it there. So I started trying to do that a few weeks ago, and so far, it's helping! It feels sooo good to walk out of my office with my hands swinging, for a change!

As a counsellor, it's really important to maintain a healthy detachment from some of the cases we see every day - which can really be disturbing. I'm usually very good at being able to detach as soon as I leave the office. But I felt like I was just undermining that by carting my casenotes home, and getting back into 'work' mode. So from now on - unless I can help it - work stays at work.