Having recently read a blog post on OrganizeIT regarding how time wastage is installed into us as soon as we start school. Here the school system has a 9-3:30 day where each day is broken up into lessons of 45-50 minutes, each lesson probably is used to convey 1 item on the curriculum and probably takes 15-20 minutes for an average student to understand. So here immediately we have time wasted.
Next we progress onto the working day, myself I do a 9-5, and I know how my day can be wasted. My job is the type that just takes huge amounts of man hours to eventually achieve a finished project, so I have put in the hours, but I know myself that there is no time during the day I’d consider myself “creative”. If my job was more creative (I deal with cold hard facts and regulations with no “artistic licence”), I could not do it in these time parameters. My creative time, for writing, art, reading etc. is late at night from 10pm stretching into the early hours. It always has been, but this just doesn’t fit with a ridged 9-5 office, so therefore I am never working at “full tilt” unless I’m on a severe deadline, but this just creates mistakes and ends up being stressful and therefore unhealthy. My pace is efficient but never stellar, its a plodding long slog through the bilge of regulation adherence, monotonous millimetre accuracy, impossible scheduling and fear of cocking up.
My timings culture comes from my time at school where I’m not shy to say it, but I was a bright and diligent learner who was in a lower skilled class and I coasted school during the day, all my work was done as homework & coursework at home, usually in the late evening after I’d got my priorities of TV watching out of the way.
This continued into my University days, where I’d pull regular all nighters to get projects submitted in time having spent most of my free time as free time, you would never find me in the library between lectures (usually the bar or shooting some Pool). My early working days after college were typical bar & hotel jobs, again with most hours being late in the day and extending into the early hours. This work may not have involved producing a product or project but meant quality and concentration had to be switched on to ensure charging was correct, my conversational skills weren’t dire and to look wide awake, or at least interested.
I then started my own business. This enabled me to work when I wanted at a pace that was conducive to all, I was never happier, though my lack of business skills made me struggle at the organisational side of things, and after a few years I had to call it a day.
But now even after 6 years of 9-5, I might as well not be in the office until mid-morning and certainly not after 3:30 in the afternoon! I’m simply on auto-pilot at these times. Had I done this job from home for myself, I’d guarantee I’d achieve the same amount of work each day but in half the time. My day would be split into my most productive times, these being 11:30am – 2pm, 5-7pm & 10:30-1am. Which to my calculation is a working day of 7 hours, just the same as I’m forced to work 9-5 but at reduced productivity/creativity. Of course you can’t really call contractors & clients at midnight, or deal with builders who start at 7am when you’re still replenishing the creative juices under a duvet.
Maybe its time to return the self employment option… When we get out of this recession!!!
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