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Numbers #1 and #2 have to be non-negotiable. Is one's job worth your own insanity and/or broken family?
I see this all the time. The biggest reason all this happens is that management rewards this stress inducing behavior and worse, punishes those who don't work themselves to death. The guy who works 90+ hours per week gets raises and promotions while the guy who clocks "only" 50 hours ends up getting the pink slip.
At Apple, they even had a 90+ hour "club" complete with T-shirts. Yeah, that's the company that was run by that god, Steve Jobs, that you at Tech Republic all worship.
At Apple, they even had a 90+ hour "club" complete with T-shirts. Yeah, that's the company that was run by that god, Steve Jobs, that you at Tech Republic all worship.
...that god, Steve Jobs, that you at Tech Republic all worship.
I don't worship at the Church of the Bitten Fruit. I'm a Pastafarian.
I don't worship at the Church of the Bitten Fruit. I'm a Pastafarian.
Aren't the iPod and iPad proof of intellegent design? 
Where's my $250,000?
The main article reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon where the pointy haired boss is worried about people working themselves to death, and instructed his employees to take a break if they hear the voices of dead relatives...
Where's my $250,000?The main article reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon where the pointy haired boss is worried about people working themselves to death, and instructed his employees to take a break if they hear the voices of dead relatives...
Lets not forget that Jobs ended up dead before he reached 60. Early retirement?
This applies to all jobs, not just IT.
Skip lunch? That will never happen to me. No job ( unless life or death ) is so important to skip lunch for.
Let's eat!
Skip lunch? That will never happen to me. No job ( unless life or death ) is so important to skip lunch for.
Let's eat!
I used to eat my lunch at my desk, but the phone would keep ringing. Customers sometimes take a different lunch hour. Eventually I changed my habits so that I ater my lunch (usually before lunchtime) and then left the office to walk up the high street or down to the harbour. Much Better!
I let the phone calls go to voice-mail. If someone showed up at my desk, I said I would take care of them when I finished eating (worded politely). Worked most of the time. I can handle the few exceptions. If it was an emergency, I took care of it and went back to my lunch. I had a flexible schedule and a very understanding boss so things generally worked out just fine. If it got too frustrating, I took my lunch outside and went for a walk. Also, every Friday, I went out for lunch and stayed out for up to 2 hours. That very understanding boss was OK with it. He knew I got my work done.
In the words of my previous Manager: "I expect that the people that work for me are the type that WOULD eat their lunch at their desk" (Yes, them's quotation marks!).
In my current job we are expected to be working all day. You may grab a sandwich if you happen to be working where there are shops. But if you are not actually ON a job, then you will be given more jobs. There IS no lunch break.
In my current job we are expected to be working all day. You may grab a sandwich if you happen to be working where there are shops. But if you are not actually ON a job, then you will be given more jobs. There IS no lunch break.
I've been playing this game for decades now and those are SOME of the things that we do in the IT world (look at us right now, up at 03-something on a Monday morning on a computer)...
'nuf said...
'nuf said...
When I was young and fighting my way up the ladder I thought that putting in long hours was a good career move. Then my girlfriend put her foot down and I had to rethink. I realized that I was working slower, pacing myself like a marathon runner, to keep enough energy back to finish that twelve-hour day.
Once I decided that at 5pm sharp I was out of there I started working faster with more focus and got the same work done in less time. Plus I got home in time to play with the kids and was fresh enough for some romantic activity later on.
Once I decided that at 5pm sharp I was out of there I started working faster with more focus and got the same work done in less time. Plus I got home in time to play with the kids and was fresh enough for some romantic activity later on.
Been through all of these myself and concur with all of them.
Main thing I would add is that each year you need to sit down and assess how you are doing. I had customers and places I worked where it crept up on me and eventually the expectations were far beyond what they were 5 years earlier. In the end, I thought to myself what hourly rate I would want if I was bidding for the work on the basis of what it had become. I concluded in the end that no rate was worth it to me, and so parted company amicably before it became a difficult split.
Remember, no-one says on their death bed "I wish I had spent more time in the office".
Main thing I would add is that each year you need to sit down and assess how you are doing. I had customers and places I worked where it crept up on me and eventually the expectations were far beyond what they were 5 years earlier. In the end, I thought to myself what hourly rate I would want if I was bidding for the work on the basis of what it had become. I concluded in the end that no rate was worth it to me, and so parted company amicably before it became a difficult split.
Remember, no-one says on their death bed "I wish I had spent more time in the office".
...and we all know about these points, and yet, we end up eventually ignoring some or all of them unfortunately. Why?
It's all about insecurity. Most people are trying to hang on to their jobs. Even if they do not feel immediately threatened then they worry about the young upstart who can work day and night like he/she can party all night and then becomes a potential threat.
As one rises through the organisation you get beyond most of that, but then as you take on more responsibility you have to drive down costs for the shareholders, etc.
But it really is down to the company culture, what does the CEO and the Executive board and shareholders want of their teams. If they respect them, then that will drive down through the organisation normally, but in my experience there are only a few enlightened companies that are like this. Otherwise, try working for a nice entrenched bureaucracy where you may not need to break your neck and worry about shareholders salivating for the next quarterly results!
Better still, take a life and career change and use all your experience and wise words to coach or train people. But then self-employment can be another challenge that can keep you up all night!
It's all about insecurity. Most people are trying to hang on to their jobs. Even if they do not feel immediately threatened then they worry about the young upstart who can work day and night like he/she can party all night and then becomes a potential threat.
As one rises through the organisation you get beyond most of that, but then as you take on more responsibility you have to drive down costs for the shareholders, etc.
But it really is down to the company culture, what does the CEO and the Executive board and shareholders want of their teams. If they respect them, then that will drive down through the organisation normally, but in my experience there are only a few enlightened companies that are like this. Otherwise, try working for a nice entrenched bureaucracy where you may not need to break your neck and worry about shareholders salivating for the next quarterly results!
Better still, take a life and career change and use all your experience and wise words to coach or train people. But then self-employment can be another challenge that can keep you up all night!
A few years ago when working from home first became practical, I went to the USA for a holiday (from the UK) and one of the first things I did was to connect mmy laptop and log in to the office - and it worked first time. A week later I tried logging in to check my email - no success. This didn't bother me as I knew that if anything urgent cropped up, they could phone me. When I got back, I told my boss about the problem and he told me he had disabled my login. "If you're on holiday, you're ON HOLIDAY" was what he said. So my boss understands the benefit of completely getting away for a break.
On the subject of overnighters, I once spent a night in prison - working to get a security system operational before a government inspection the following morning - and I made it, just!
On the subject of overnighters, I once spent a night in prison - working to get a security system operational before a government inspection the following morning - and I made it, just!
you have to get the balance right... no one expects this from you.
Still alive but ended up in hospital for three months.
With respect to point 9, I was always on the receiving end of unrealistic expectations. Particularly when the sales director popped his head round the door claiming he'd pulled in a FANTASTIC deal invariably for something we didn't have/couldn't do. He must have been an alumni of the Dogbert school of sales management.
Problem is that managers always flog a willing horse and trot out all the platitudes about how everyone is 'counting on you', 'we just need to make this last push'...
Older and wiser now.
With respect to point 9, I was always on the receiving end of unrealistic expectations. Particularly when the sales director popped his head round the door claiming he'd pulled in a FANTASTIC deal invariably for something we didn't have/couldn't do. He must have been an alumni of the Dogbert school of sales management.
Problem is that managers always flog a willing horse and trot out all the platitudes about how everyone is 'counting on you', 'we just need to make this last push'...
Older and wiser now.
It took me a long time, and a heart attack to realise that I had all the balance wrong.
If you are paid to work say 40 hours per week, and you put in 60 hours, you are devaluing your skills.
I sat down one day and worked out that some of my staff, on a substantially lower wage than I were actually earning more on an hourly basis because they were not doing the stupid hours.
No more stupid hours for me.
If you are paid to work say 40 hours per week, and you put in 60 hours, you are devaluing your skills.
I sat down one day and worked out that some of my staff, on a substantially lower wage than I were actually earning more on an hourly basis because they were not doing the stupid hours.
No more stupid hours for me.
I have probably worked my last IT contract after seeing how unrealistic expectations have become the norm. Subcontract into, say HP, often is via one or more small IT businesses and each needs their cut. Some of these businesses are quite happy to delay payment for months or worse, promise to honor reimbursements then not deliver and hope you will not expend the effort to chase them down.
The health implications have me earning a wage outside IT and no intention of risking working with the "fly by nighters".
Now the satisfaction comes from turning down work and referring them to previous misdemeanors, but I feel sorry for the folk who have house payments and need the cashflow.
The only way this will be corrected will be when there is a shortage of engineers and sadly in Australia the dodgy businesses can draw on a flooded Indian market to import cheap labor. I hate to think how long it will take to correct the imbalance with such an inexhaustible supply..
The health implications have me earning a wage outside IT and no intention of risking working with the "fly by nighters".
Now the satisfaction comes from turning down work and referring them to previous misdemeanors, but I feel sorry for the folk who have house payments and need the cashflow.
The only way this will be corrected will be when there is a shortage of engineers and sadly in Australia the dodgy businesses can draw on a flooded Indian market to import cheap labor. I hate to think how long it will take to correct the imbalance with such an inexhaustible supply..
The IT consulting firm I work for has set up their bonus program so the only way you can get a bonus is to put in an exorbitant amount of overtime helping with sales leads, proposals, interviews, taking classes, conducting classes, and even their sanctioned community activities. Thinks its fair? They even encourage you to give up your vacation time to gain more points for a bonus, but its not guaranteed. A "former" coworker gave up his vacation only to have the bonus range chart change so he was a couple points short of a bonus...and no, they wouldn't give it to him.
The worst thing is not the 30-hour work-days. It's not the foregone vacations. It's when you produce something great, something valuable, something to make the company and the world a better place... and it isn't appreciated. But then you do some dinky off-hand thing straight out of a manual and the pointy-haired B-school bozos carry on for a week about what a great thing you did. That's what drives burn-out, when you have to ask yourself, "Why am I bothering to do this? Why am I bothering to try to do my best when, time after time, I'm not rewarded for it?"
Someone else objected to the carrot and stick. At one place, a new general manager called all of the SW product developers in for a speech. He wanted to make sure we all knew that meeting release dates is important, but his approach was to say, "If we're a month late, it costs us $12M." or whatever. So I had to ask him whether we'd all get a cut of the $12M if we got the product out a month ahead of time. He did not answer in the affirmative.
Someone else objected to the carrot and stick. At one place, a new general manager called all of the SW product developers in for a speech. He wanted to make sure we all knew that meeting release dates is important, but his approach was to say, "If we're a month late, it costs us $12M." or whatever. So I had to ask him whether we'd all get a cut of the $12M if we got the product out a month ahead of time. He did not answer in the affirmative.
For some people, there will be your 8 hours??? work and you need to attend 4 hours of meetings every day. The actual issue is you go to meeting when you are working at peak of your concentration. After coming out you need 30 min to one hour to get back to same focus level.
I think one need to spend time to decide which meetings to attend and say NO to un-related and un productive meetings.
I think one need to spend time to decide which meetings to attend and say NO to un-related and un productive meetings.
The first six (among others) sounds like my old job before I pulled the pin as an IT Manager. The CFO said there would be plenty of appraisal and bonuses for completed projects, enabling the business to move forward using technology..... Blah, blah! As far as I'm concerned, move whatever direction on the ladder you feel happy with, do what you love doing, show your employer a bit of passion but don't bother over doing it, bending over backwards gets you nowhere.
No one remembers the guy who lived at work basically. Once he is gone, no one misses him, all of his work achievements are quickly swept away like a sand castle built on a beach.
The new employee comes in with fresh ideas, and everything they did or held sacred is history.
I have seen this several times over, no one is irreplaceable that is ego and all things that go up eventually come down.
The new employee comes in with fresh ideas, and everything they did or held sacred is history.
I have seen this several times over, no one is irreplaceable that is ego and all things that go up eventually come down.
You either kill yourself or become unemployed, especially in IT. Honestly if you want to have a spouse and kids - do yourself a favor and don't go into this career track. It will end up hurting your relationships in the long run. You will find yourself checking email at the dinner table, at the beach, at the theme park, obsessively keeping in touch because that question can't possibly wait a few days...and even then get 'called out' for not working hard enough or quick enough. I'm not sure what happened to this industry but it's truly hell to work in anymore.
I've been in IT all my life. I have been married for 15 years, have two kids. Yes, I do check my email while on holiday and call the office from time to time. They know it's part of the job.
This is what we call in pakistan "The Saith Culture". "Saith" is a stereo type for a spoiled brat (mostly very bulky in appearance) guy who has inherited his father's wealth and keeps bleeding his workers dry. When i started out there was this company that expected workers to work 12-13 hours a day with only one or two sundays off in two months(this is no exaggeration). I endured 4 years of that hell because options were limited. Now i am working for people who treat humans like humans. And since they are nice to me, if there is any problem i voluntarily try to help out with other workers when ever i can.
The wonderful technology we have these days allows me to VPN in from home and work as if I were sitting at my desk. It is all too easy to think, oh, I need to check on one thing and end up still sitting at my home computer at 2 AM when I have to get up at 5:30 to get to work. No one asks me to do this, but our load is so overwhelming and there are so many meetings and interruptions at work it's great to be able to concentrate on something. Until the next day when I'm so groggy I can barely put two words together coherently.
Very true for someone working an the IT dept. What I realize also is most End Users who does not understand what you are doing think you are not busy and sit around all day.
I started out as a city planner and go into IT because I needed tools for policy analysis etc. I'm here to say, this isn't just about IT jobs.
I came to the realization that I could work literally 24/7 and not get done all the stuff that city management expected me to do. I also realized that 2 hours after I croaked, they'd have emptied my cube and dumped the unfinished work on someone else's head. Fortunately, I also came to the realization that the world wouldn't end if most of what they wanted never got done at all.
So, I decided to put in what I thought was reasonable hours at whatever job I took, on the most urgent/important stuff, and to produce output that I considered workmanlike or better. I wound up having a good bit of fun, getting a lot done, and feeling pretty good about myself. Oh, and I personally decided that 50-60 hr weeks were OK, and that the occasional all-nighter or all-weekend push were just part of the job. And, especially as I've gotten older, I've come to realize that excessive overtime is unproductive if not counterproductive.
In the interim I've also managed to have a happy family life, and put myself thru a master's and almost to a PhD in my spare time.
I came to the realization that I could work literally 24/7 and not get done all the stuff that city management expected me to do. I also realized that 2 hours after I croaked, they'd have emptied my cube and dumped the unfinished work on someone else's head. Fortunately, I also came to the realization that the world wouldn't end if most of what they wanted never got done at all.
So, I decided to put in what I thought was reasonable hours at whatever job I took, on the most urgent/important stuff, and to produce output that I considered workmanlike or better. I wound up having a good bit of fun, getting a lot done, and feeling pretty good about myself. Oh, and I personally decided that 50-60 hr weeks were OK, and that the occasional all-nighter or all-weekend push were just part of the job. And, especially as I've gotten older, I've come to realize that excessive overtime is unproductive if not counterproductive.
In the interim I've also managed to have a happy family life, and put myself thru a master's and almost to a PhD in my spare time.
Stephen Covey, I believe, put it something like this: you have to keep your production in balance with your production capacity. For the last 10 or so years in my IT career, I have kept a simple interpretive diagram of this within eye shot so I don't over-do it. Yes you might get ahead or wow someone "important" with that ridiculously extra, extra-effort but it will absolutely negatively affect the quality or timeliness of another in the near future.
Regarding "no:" I'd love to hear some motivating, individual approaches to practicing this. How do your readers rationalize it in their minds, i.e. practice it? It is my weakness and no self-explanation or reasoning I've yet come up with seems to make it stick.
Regarding "no:" I'd love to hear some motivating, individual approaches to practicing this. How do your readers rationalize it in their minds, i.e. practice it? It is my weakness and no self-explanation or reasoning I've yet come up with seems to make it stick.
Pretend that you are a Project Manager scheduling someone else's time. You make a list in priority order of everything you have been assigned. You calculate effort in days and duration in days. When someone asks you to do one more thing, you bring out your list and you schedule it in together. They will soon see that the one more thing will be finished in 7 months (too late to be useful) or another important thing will be delayed until past the time it is required. Unfortunately, the one more thing will be given to someone who is less organised and will probably not deliver something. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, you will be promoted to manage IT.
Congrats to the guys and girls out there that have found an actual balance between work and life, I bow to you. I've heard many expressions (in my opinion all true)
- no leave, no life
- no life without wife, a happy wife means a happy life
- work smarter not harder (true, but depending on what your doing, who's pocket does it really go in anyway?)
Nothing more important than family and the life you create with them.
- no leave, no life
- no life without wife, a happy wife means a happy life
- work smarter not harder (true, but depending on what your doing, who's pocket does it really go in anyway?)
Nothing more important than family and the life you create with them.
I just hate hearing "work smarter" because most people who tell you that are really saying work longer and get it all done after you point out that you are now way over tasked.
This list was just what I needed to read. Right on time. I need to pull it up every day and read it before beginning my work day! Thanks and God Bless.
I find it funny that corporations still have the 1960's mentality of more work = more production. Technology and Society have matured, but a lot of these guys/gals in control still resort to more is better style of managing. To sum up with an analogy, managing in this style is like wearing a blindfold while trying to hammer a nail into a block of wood.
What you describe above is close to the work ethic of the corporate Japanese. And they are very aware of the results of a life driven by work. So much so that they have a word, Karoshi, which means " Death by overwork"
A lot of IT professionals I've dealt with seem to ignore the lack of vacations as "part of being in IT." That's BS. If you can't take vacations, either you need help or your company sucks. It's usually the young IT pros with something to prove who do this. They believe that they will be seen as "more dedicated" if they forgo vacations. No one will notice your dedication. They will just steamroll over you while enjoying their vacations and 9 to 5 schedules.
There are allot of different positions that work with different technologies. I accepted a job at an enterprise to work with stuff I've only worked with in college. Enterprise plus a low skill level is not good. I put 5 of these on my list while I was there, so I left and got a different job at a little lower salary to work with stuff I was really good at. My stress level went so far down I lost 20+ pounds without having to change my eating or exercise. I remember hearing that stress can kill you, its true. If your at a stressful job and keep gaining weight and don't know why, get out now, going down a couple thousand on your salary for a position less stressful is worth it, trust me.
A lot of this just falls into not valuing yourself. I refuse to work through breaks if I can't take one later, work from home without pay etc. If my time is worth X per hour than I better see X for every hour I'm working. Don't give away hobbies, relationships, time, health for work especially for free.
I wish I didn't have to admin to all the above except #7. But I am and have always been the entire IT department for our non-profit company - three buildings, hardware/software tech, teach software, Lan, phones, copier, network and web. I'm never caught up and have limited access to outsource help. Hopefully this year they have enough in the budget to hire part-time help.
I'm usually the go to guy when it comes to the more extreme work, all nighters, long shifts, etc. Luckily, the firm rewards well with banked time. And what they do well is they are very flexible with when it comes to vacations.
They know when I like my vacations and they make sure projects are scheduled appropriately around these vacations, plus they make sure you never get a call during your vacation. I camp, my hobby, its so beneficial and soothing that one time, I had even forgotten all the passwords. That's when you know you've had a good holiday.
Give me serious down time and I'll be able to give some serious work time, a balance.
They know when I like my vacations and they make sure projects are scheduled appropriately around these vacations, plus they make sure you never get a call during your vacation. I camp, my hobby, its so beneficial and soothing that one time, I had even forgotten all the passwords. That's when you know you've had a good holiday.
Give me serious down time and I'll be able to give some serious work time, a balance.
You are lucky. The other comments describing long hours, underpayment, under appreciation, loss of personal life are the norm. I have over 25 years in IT and worked with a large number of other IT professionals - you are in a good spot.
You can find a company that respects your work/life balance. It may not be easy and you might have to find a new job which is stressing (espeically in the middle of a recession). I don't have the balance I want yet. Just a matter of finding the right company. You will never be on your deathbed thinking "I wish I had spent more time at work."
One time, I had an equal (same level) colleague. The company hit a rough patch and downsized him out. So, I was there alone. Then I asked the company (several levels up), when are they going to start searching for a replacement. What shocked me was that they couldn't search for a replacement, that is why they got rid of him. But I said, don't hire someone as high up on the ranks (there were three levels below me and my former colleague) so then the light bulb sort of turned on. We got two people who combined earned less than my replace colleague (ok, less than half of what I was paid), but it was a year and a half later.
There is also another point where regulators (I worked IT in an investment bank) said that people in my position had to take two consecutive weeks off, at least once a year, no work allowed or the clock is reset. Regulators check the company's e-mails and someone who is regulatory off gets their "regulatory leave" taken away. Finally, management got smarter and the company was doing better, when you were on regulatory leave, your access to the building is suspended, your login is put is locked out, your company supplied phone was to be turned in. Those were my best vacations, even if I only stayed at home. Essentially, no one is allowed to contact me. Sure, I met up colleagues who become friends, but only for drinks or lunches.
Then we finally got some really good high level people, who actually started chasing people out of the office. If they noticed some people staying late, they hired more people. So, the only people who stayed late, started late, creating a kind of night shift (which I was not allowed to be part of). If your vacation got cancelled (I had one cancelled, because we were being audited, but not only did the company pay the late cancellation fees for me, they paid for new upgraded tickets for me and my family and gave me a night out with my family on the company's tab). They started a "you don't take leave, you don't get promoted or get your bonus reduced, policy", and it means those of us who had regulatory leave, we had to take two vacations a year. I also got a lot of leave time, about 60 days from carry over leave. Since they did not buy back the vacation time, I was an employee for 3 months after I physically left, I was on "vacation." The last five years at the company was great 1-10 were no longer "allowed."
I left, but I was not burned out, it was because I wanted to return (I was out of the country) home. I moved my family to the U.S. and went back to school for a master's degree, and I didn't want an IT job anymore. But the job market was such that IT was basically the only work I could find, it appears as though a Masters in Economics is not really needed in our area, but it did help me get an IT job, but not so high stress.
There is also another point where regulators (I worked IT in an investment bank) said that people in my position had to take two consecutive weeks off, at least once a year, no work allowed or the clock is reset. Regulators check the company's e-mails and someone who is regulatory off gets their "regulatory leave" taken away. Finally, management got smarter and the company was doing better, when you were on regulatory leave, your access to the building is suspended, your login is put is locked out, your company supplied phone was to be turned in. Those were my best vacations, even if I only stayed at home. Essentially, no one is allowed to contact me. Sure, I met up colleagues who become friends, but only for drinks or lunches.
Then we finally got some really good high level people, who actually started chasing people out of the office. If they noticed some people staying late, they hired more people. So, the only people who stayed late, started late, creating a kind of night shift (which I was not allowed to be part of). If your vacation got cancelled (I had one cancelled, because we were being audited, but not only did the company pay the late cancellation fees for me, they paid for new upgraded tickets for me and my family and gave me a night out with my family on the company's tab). They started a "you don't take leave, you don't get promoted or get your bonus reduced, policy", and it means those of us who had regulatory leave, we had to take two vacations a year. I also got a lot of leave time, about 60 days from carry over leave. Since they did not buy back the vacation time, I was an employee for 3 months after I physically left, I was on "vacation." The last five years at the company was great 1-10 were no longer "allowed."
I left, but I was not burned out, it was because I wanted to return (I was out of the country) home. I moved my family to the U.S. and went back to school for a master's degree, and I didn't want an IT job anymore. But the job market was such that IT was basically the only work I could find, it appears as though a Masters in Economics is not really needed in our area, but it did help me get an IT job, but not so high stress.
Yep use to do all of them,
Guess what
I had burn out
Now the complete opposite
24 hrs a week ???bliss???
Guess what
I had burn out
Now the complete opposite
24 hrs a week ???bliss???
How about burn out through caring for a system more than your boss.
If it isn't important to him/her or the business then why should it matter more to me!
I agree wholeheartedly with the hobby need.
If it isn't important to him/her or the business then why should it matter more to me!
I agree wholeheartedly with the hobby need.
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