In my last employment-type job, I tended to waste time during the day, because it was so fucking hard to concentrate with the hubub of an open office, combined with the stupid local radio station the lead designer insisted play all day every day, it drove me nuts. I mean, classic rock is fine, but the same songs and commercials every day for years?!?!?!
I’d stay late and accomplish so many things, because there were no interruptions. But, working from home wasn’t really something I could do very often, because they expected me to answer phones, while building websites and doing prepress. Because ovaries, I guess.
These days, as this comment is evidence, I waste some time during the day. So what, I figure. As long as the work is done, that’s what matters, ah, the glory of freelancing. Even with all the admin work that comes with it, I still work fewer hours, for about the same spendable money.
Yeah, they asked the two men in my department to help with phones, but only after I became very upset, and told the boss that I could build websites and do prepress, or answer the phones, but I couldn’t effectively do everything. I was the only one building websites, doing 50% of the prepress, and handling maintenance on the direct-to-plate machines, but even small town print shops can have rockstars who don’t have to pull their own weight. I guess.
This is like 80% of my job, to write documentation nobody reads, yet they all insist it sucks – because I put in exactly what they wanted (even taking dictation sometimes). When they need an answer from the docs, they ask me or someone else from my department to do it.
Sadly those would get spotted, but there is a certain amount of metatextual data each of us carries around in our heads. “Yeah, there was a delay on that change getting approved because that’s when the ice storm hit and half the client team couldn’t make it into work for a week.”
Okay sure, I’ll take advice from people whose only goal is to get as much money as possible any way possible. Plus don’t forget making sure other people don’t get any money cause reasons.
I’d also like to add that another annoying trait is “highly effective” people’s lack of consideration for those of us with mental illness. I’ve met quite a few who can’t wrap their heads around the fact that people with hereditary chronic depression cannot simply “snap out of it”.
