Fun & Famous

OVERTIME, YAY OR NAY?

Adios holiday, hello work. The vacation is hard on its way back. Yes, even though we have an old wives' summer (that's what it's called when summer only starts in September). But, let's be honest... How many extra hours have you added to your timesheet after that delightful vacation? I mean overtime. Are you in the hourly-billing business or in the sure-I'll-do-an-extra-hour rhythm?

When the marker screams ‘deadline’ in pink, blue, yellow, and green in my Moleskine, I extend my workday before and after for a more zen state of mind. Just a little more typing, clearing those three emails, and then I'm really done. I plop down a bit more relaxed, around eleven, on the couch or the balcony. And when I finally empty my head, I get a shock. Did I really stay up that late? But at six o'clock, the alarm drags me out of bed and I haven't even finished one episode tonight and, and, and. Result the next morning? Two espressos with the newspaper, three behind my laptop, and around four o'clock I slam down another cup. It doesn't help, because my head still feels like someone wrapped the entire cotton rack from the Etos around it. And the day feels a bit ‘off’. Not just after one night of working late, but such a night comes with a partner or partners in the form of a whole week. Then you stumble into the editorial office on Friday and the ladies think you were still hanging at the bar until an hour ago. And my head does the same trick as after three bottles of Sauvignon: the slowness. That causes stress, because it feels like you're the slowest on a beach walk. Heavy on the feet and rushed, not normal. Before you know it, you're explaining a synonym for busy to the teacher behind the cash register, because really saying you're busy is so un-cool.

Is overtime good or bad for you? The average man works about 3.7 extra hours per week and we, we add 2.4 hours to the boss's (or her) time. There's nothing wrong with that (olé), but then you should have a bit of fun at the workplace. A little bit of overtime even makes you happy. Didn't think so, huh? Clicking ‘close’ at four fifty-seven can be harmful to you. What, but how then? You leave the house feeling so organized when your work is really done at half past five or six. So you feel calmer behind your meal or it gives you a boost, because that report is nicely finished in the digital mailbox of a big shot. And another thought, who says a workday lasts from nine to five? Your overoverovergrandfather calmly worked twelve hours a day, because a workday simply lasted twelve hours (oh, so that's how a CEO does it). Fat chance you'll go through life a bit more zen if you interpret those working hours a bit more mellow, if possible.

This is the rosy scenario, because unpaid overtime is the bastard that causes grumpiness. And when the words structural and many (about fifty plus) go hand in hand with those hours, then overtime is not as innocent as it seems. You stay late, the Mac is just one exit away from your stomach, and when you crawl under the sheets exhausted, you can't even sleep anymore (aaaargh). Do you always do this? Then you need to learn to say no to your boss like crazy. Those productive overtime hours are coming to get you and before you know it, you're much further from home instead of just getting home a bit later.

But it's twenty-two fifty-nine, so I'm logging out. And that's really good for me, because I have the best workplace on earth and this piece is done. Goodnight.