After I punch the clock

Since I work for an advertising agency I always have people asking me - "How about those long hours?" I suppose there are some (or many) agencies that require long days, or their employees have to work from home after they leave the office. It has even happened to me, on occasion. The whole agency world runs on unreasonable deadlines that force us to make it happen and at whatever cost. 

Luckily, it's a rarity for me. Not to say that I don't have enough work to do. My daily to-do list is rarely ever done. Every day (and weekend) I have work that I could be doing at home, but I don't want to be that dad or husband. When I get to work I make it a point to do my most pressing tasks first. Those items that have to be completed that day. Sometimes they don't get done and I have to take my work home with me. Most of the time, the items left over are things that can wait until the next day.

I spend more waking hours at work than I do with my family during the weekdays. It's contradictory to those of us who love spending time with our families. We have to spend 45 hours a workweek (counting lunch breaks since I don't get to go home for those) at work and only 20 hours awake at home during a workweek (6-10pm and 7-8am). I don't blame my job for that. It's just how the world turns.

But, when I'm at home I make it a point to put my family first. It's so hard sometimes. I can be constantly connected to email. It's so easy to pull my phone out and see if a client responded to my emails or if someone left me a voicemail on my office phone. I have to make a conscientious effort. It can be a slippery slope if you start bringing your work home with you on a regular basis.

There's an interesting book called Rework. If you haven't read it, it's pretty good. It's written by the two guys that founded 37 Signals. 37 Signals is the company that created Basecamp, if anyone uses that at work. They talk about how unproductive employees are when they don't take time for themselves. When they consecutively work 50+ hours a week they begin to burnout and their work won't be as good over time compared to an employee who manages their time well, gets their work done in the office and then goes home to disconnect. It's a good short read. It was given to all of the employees at my agency by our CEO. He's a man that realizes the importance of being an involved dad which I can appreciate.