There are 14 comments on this post. Add your own comment.

Having worked in both worlds (9-5 and my own hours), an if it’s an either/or situation, I’ll take my own hours and less recognition over 9-5. Hopefully it can be a both/&.

said Joshua Longbrake

at 4:08pm on Sunday

i hear ya - i used to work at an agency that operated on the ‘perceived productivity’ philosophy - combine that with the expectation of long hours and you have a good environment for burnout - the amount of time spent at a desk does not correlate with the amount productivity time you get out of someone

i now work for myself and enjoy conforming my work hours to the times i’m most productive - interestingly though, something in me still often feels guilty that i’m not “at my desk” at 8am even if i may have been productive well into the wee hours the night before…

said Grant

at 4:43pm on Sunday

yes.

said Jeremy Ricketts

at 4:57pm on Sunday

This is a huge issue in student ministry because the “corporate types” in a church see the student pastor leaving the office to go “hang out” with kids and they wonder to themselves why that pastor is not doing “real work.”

said Chris S.

at 5:39pm on Sunday

Yes / No.

I’m currently working from home myself, but for a 50 or so person company in another state. They’ve pretty much given me full reign over my schedule, although I need to be accessible via phone / email most of the day. What I’ve found is that I’m incredibly productive very late at night (my wife typically goes to sleep between 9pm and 10pm) so after that, or very early (5am up to about 10am) and the middle of the day is just lost on me as far as productivity goes.

What this has produced, for the majority of my time with the company, is a constant queue of work that appears to be late up until I knock it out and get ahead of my deadlines overnight.

One of the things I hated about working at an agency is this perceived productivity Dan talks about in his post, because I would be at work from 8am - 6/7pm, then come home and actually get some work done. Le sigh.

said Joshua Blount

at 7:00pm on Sunday

The 8 to 4er’s, the dress code conformers, know how to slip under the upper management radar all while doing the best work on Facebook. Meanwhile the twenty/thirty-something creatives are looked down upon from coworkers because we roll in at 9:30 and called into our bosses office for rockin’ a tank top and flip flops (minus the tank top).

What are coworkers and higher-ups don’t see is the time we check out, the breaks (we don’t take) and the hours we put in on weekends.

My solution to the perceived productivity conundrum was to bust my butt off for three years until I was invaluable, walk into my bosses office and give him the “I want to work from home and come into the office when I feel like it or I’m leaving” ultimatum.

I recommend The Four Hour Work Week for anyone trying to break the 9 to 5.

Great post.

said Jer.

at 8:11pm on Sunday

Ricketts took the words from my mouth.

and fingers.

said luke

at 10:43pm on Sunday

here here.

said robbie

at 10:47pm on Sunday

Look up R.O.W.E.; interesting idea, which in theory would allow workers to also work when they produce best (though, in retail places, that’s an impossibility). If you job doesn’t require you to interact with clients (who work the 9-5) then you ought to be allowed to work your pace/schedule — as long as you get the job done well, on time, within budget. That’s my philosophy; and if evers I get the balls to hire people and grow this business, that’d be my policy.

said Paul

at 6:04am on Monday

Hand raised high.

I’m productive when it’s dark and I don’t have to filter my thoughts from the loud office banter that lulls consistently the entire work day.

said DJ Wilson

at 9:01am on Monday

I am one of the lucky ones. My teammate and I alternate on who is going to come into the office early to answer all those technical questions. The boss doesn’t measure productivity by the 9-5 schedule, but rather by the 24-hour clock.

said Daniel Craig Jallits

at 9:04am on Monday

Wow this happens to me often. I work an 8-5 schedule and the morning is really a constant struggle. My creativity somehow seems to spike as my work day is ending. Then I’ll want to linger and finish things up, usually resulting in late nights at the office. So I think I work better in the evening and wee hours of the am. Not sure why but hey I totally agree with you.

said Melissa Garcia

at 10:54am on Monday

Aha. So others have discovered the relative stupidity of the corp world. I do not like being “Corporate Woman.” I lack courage and energy and think I need money. Someone help me!!

said Yer Mom

at 6:12pm on Tuesday

I’ve been working for the same company for 4 years; the first 2 as an office worker 9-5 type, the last 2 as a telecommuter. Not only has my productivity shot up, the amount of time it takes me to do a project is cut by as much as 50% since I have less coworker distractions. I still have to be available from 9-5 for phone calls and whatnot, but forwarding takes care of that if I feel like working from somewhere else :).

My experience has also gotten my entire department more flexibility. Once the “ass in seat” culture was seen as unnecessary at the job, others are now working from home a couple of times a week and doing more overall.

And I definitely agree on reading the 4 hour workweek as Jer said. Great book, even if I didn’t have Tim’s guidance available when I got up the nerve to do this :)

said Vinnie

at 1:46pm on Wednesday

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