Nice Work If You Can Get It

I just want to record my thoughts on what is acceptable for one’s work to expect of you, and what’s not.

Last Friday I woke up at 4:30am to head to a client. We arrived at around 11am, and worked straight until almost 5pm, where we had to find a conference room (hotel) with Internet access to work with another client from 8:00 until 10:30pm. The return flight was on a Saturday at 9:20am. Not exactly “normal” business hours. What to do if this is the status quo at the company?

I don’t have a good answer to that. I’d like to say you should draw limits, make them clear, and make sure people know what your limits are. But it’s tough when just about everyone is putting in the same kind of crazy hours. This is one of those situations where it really helps for a leader in the organization to live a healthy work life and set the tone of company culture.

As for me, I can do this on occasion. However, I’m sure the lack of sleep will cause me to make other errors, and hopefully not waste anyone’s time as a result. Let’s all try to get our work done responsibly and efficiently.