Hours

One of the whimsical (said with lifted eyebrow and pursed lips) things about my company is that they want you to track the number of hours you spent doing various things. This is hardly unusual, so perhaps their attitude isn't unusual, either -- they have a minimum number of hours, which is equal to a standard work week, but they expect -- never formally stated, only hinted at with oblique references -- that you will work more than that -- but not too MUCH more. About twelve to fifteen percent seems to be about right. More than that, and you get chastised for exceeding the labor projections. This is a bureaucratic sin.

I noticed a while ago, incidentally, that I work best in the morning, and in the late afternoon. I do pretty well at night, too. Early afternoon is a dead zone for me, best spent taking a nap or going for a walk. Could I reflect this on the time tracking sytem, I think they'd actually get more hours from me. But this is nae the way of the Very Big Company that I labor for.

When I first arrived, I tried putting the actual number of hours I worked (and I mean actually worked; not eating, not day dreaming, not off to the photocopier) but the system didn't like that. So then I tried putting the standard work week in, and it liked that, but I got oblique comments. So now I put in the SWW + .12SWW, more or less, and I get praised for being right in track with expectations. I don't actually work that many hours, though. I work on things that need to get done, and I work on things I want to work on, and I work until I'm tired. More time isn't needed, as a rule, to keep up with events. So on the rare occasion when I really DO need to work that many hours --- and this week is one of them --- my time tracking records look just about the same as always. I don't inflate them further. That leaves me just a bit tetchy, because, after all, I'm actually doing more than normal, and I'd like it to be recognized.

Not that it would matter !