Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Virtual Office???
I was reading the Training Day blog post titled Moving Target. It explains how so many professionals are working around the clock due to company cards with cell phone numbers, company laptops that constantly send emails, and PDAs that make it so easy to be reached even at the dinner table. Just making it into the work force, I notice that I am becoming a part of this group of professionals. When I get home from work and sit down to watch the news, I can't help but to feel the numerous incoming emails from WORK. This alone makes me think, "where's the pay for overtime??" I just started working and I feel like I don't want to be bothered after work. That is personal, off-the-clock time that I want to enjoy. How can we escape the grip of our employer? This is exactly why people take so many vacations, sick leaves, etc. Here's some advice: When you're all out of sick leave, call in dead! haha.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Welcome to the workforce, and sorry to hear no one told you about this. You are absolutely right, in that you will continue to be stretched to put more "personal" time in as you climb the corporate ladder. My only advice is begin to set boundries within your life (when you respond to e-mails, where you take your PDA, etc.) as that will help set the expectation that your employer will have of you. The down side is if you are trying to advance your career, and others are responding to e-mails at midnight (and your not) the odds of advancement will be limited (unfortunately).
Funny you posted this because I have been thinking a lot about this lately. The lines are certainly blurred between work-life and home-life. I constantly struggle to juggle my work tasks which spill over greatly into my family time. The result has been to stay up later and get up earlier. I do my research, read my emails, try out new online tools, etc. after my kids go to bed or before they wake up. This way I don't feel like I'm losing time with them. Does take discipline however - and coffee!
I think now more than ever, that phrase, "do something you love, and you'll never work a day in your life" applies. Because there really is no hard line between work, and life outside of work.
In the past, colleagues have thought I was strange for being downright disgruntled by answering emails or phone calls at 8pm. "It's five minutes." Blackberries and iPhones make it increasingly difficult to simply have a life in which the job cannot interfere. Like Bill said, it's important to set boundaries. It's difficult- after all, we're learning how to develop eLearning that can be done from the hotel room, by a traveling worker. However, if it's clear that there are simply times when you do not respond to work (family dinner table, while on vacation, etc), it is possible to strike some sort of balance. I know I've removed the battery of my cell phone during vacation days... I mean, I'm not saving lives, and as a good friend has told me, "you've got until retirement to get 'er done."
Post a Comment