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At work, time really is money, and organizations spend it in different ways. Some expect you to account for every moment you're on the job. Advertising agencies, law firms and other businesses bill clients at an hourly rate for your time. Other employers may allow you to come and go as you please, as long as the job gets done. Results are what matter -- not the clock.
To get an idea of how people regard time at your organization, look around and follow other people's leads. Do people work weekends? It may not be required, but is it expected? Does everyone clear out around 5:30, or do they leave when the boss leaves at 6:45? Do people take a late lunch, an early lunch or no lunch at all? Do they come in early and leave early? Find out what other employees' and supervisors' patterns are and what they expect. Always be the first person in the office, and never be the first to leave. And no matter what your excuse is, remember that everyone always notices when you come in late and when you leave early -- and they may judge you accordingly.
Taking Your Time
A good example of how not to manage your time is Gary, a recent college graduate. Gary landed a new position with a nonprofit organization. He was told that his normal working hours would be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. He was expected to put in a normal eight-hour working day, yet Gary was more accustomed to keeping late-night hours. He had previously worked as a waiter in a restaurant, where staff could come and go as they pleased when the restaurant wasn't busy. As long as they got the job done, it didn't matter.
At his new job, Gary arrived between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. every day, depending on how many cups of coffee he had. If things were slow, he might bail out of the office around 4:00 p.m. Often, when his boss needed to ask for his opinion or help on a project, she could not find Gary, who was on one of his frequent smoking breaks. His erratic work habits became a morale problem for other employees. They felt that if Gary was coming in when he wanted, why couldn't they? He was repeatedly warned about his lackadaisical attitude about punctuality and time spent in the office until, finally, the boss determined that Gary had better look elsewhere for a job.
Showing Your Face Time
Some organizations like employees to put in "face time." This means sticking around the office to make yourself visible, even if you have nothing to do. You might be through with your work and ready to go home at 5:00 p.m., but there is an unspoken rule that no one starts to head out until 6:15 p.m. You could sit there and twiddle your thumbs for an hour, but it's more productive to ask others if they need help or find your own side project, which you can work on during the slow hours before leaving work. Either way, you had better not leave until the boss does.
On the other hand, some people wear their hours like a badge of honor, even though their long hours are not necessarily a reflection of hard work. Pat, an assistant account executive at an advertising firm, would arrive at 8:00 a.m. and not leave the office until 8:00 p.m. every night, long after everyone else went home at 5:30 p.m. Was Pat a devoted employee, a super worker? Not quite.
Pat wasted so much time during the day socializing with everybody around the office and talking to friends on the phone, that she had to stay late just to catch up on her normal work. If you are spending too much time at the office, ask yourself, "Am I really accomplishing something or am I wasting valuable time I could be spending getting things done? Are there ways that I can be more efficient?"
It's What You Do with Your Time that Counts
Others do not value you as an employee because of how much time you put in. They value the results of your work and the bottom line. While he was in his prime, tennis champion Jimmy Connors was notorious for only practicing for an hour-and-a-half at a time. His rivals would spend four to six hours on the practice court. Yet in that 90 minutes, Connors gave the game his undivided attention. He put everything he had into a concentrated amount of time. He didn't need to spend four hours on court, because he was focused and got the job done in a short, intense period.
At work, if you dedicate yourself to focusing on the task and don't allow yourself get distracted by coworkers or by surfing the Internet, you'll find that, like Connors, you can get a lot done in a reasonable amount of time. You know, you're also paying rent on a place with a kitchen, a bathroom and a bed. You should probably spend some time there, too.
